Because We're Friends
by FaithinBones
Summary: Due to circmstances beyond his control, Aubrey moves in with Booth and Brennan for a few weeks.
1. Chapter 1

(Season 11)

I watched 'The Doom in the Boom' the other day and this story idea popped into my head. This story is mostly fluff.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Booth and Brennan were already at the diner when Aubrey entered the building. Once he was sitting across from them at their table, he signaled for the waitress and placed an order for lunch. "A cup of coffee and a BLT."

Surprised at the small order, Booth placed his cup down and stared at his friend. "Are you sick?"

"Sick?" Aubrey shook his head and protested. "Why do you think I'm sick? Do I look sick?"

"I don't know . . . a cup of coffee and a BLT." Booth chuckled at the idea of such a small meal. "That's not enough for a snack let alone a meal . . . for you I mean. I'm not a human garbage disposal unit like you are."

Irritated, Aubrey leaned back against his chair. "I have a high metabolism. It's a blessing and a curse."

"Have you already eaten?" Brennan noticed that Aubrey hadn't really answered the question and she was growing concerned for his well-being.

Unable to avoid the conversation, Aubrey sighed. "Okay, look, I'm a little off my feed right now. I went home last night and found out my apartment wasn't habitable. A pipe broke in my kitchen and flooded my apartment. The carpet is ruined and so are the lower sections of the walls. A lot of furniture is damaged and I don't have anywhere to live right now. The building owner is going to have to do a lot of major repairs and he doesn't have any empty apartments he can let me use. I have renters insurance, but that's going to take some time. I saved what stuff I could and I loaded up my car. I put some stuff in a storage unit too, but it's just a mess."

"Oh well, you can stay with us until your apartment is fixed." Brennan saw a problem and now it was fixed.

Except Booth didn't think so. "No, no, wait a minute."

"Thanks, but I don't want to be in the way, I guess I can find a cheap hotel or sleep in my car or something."

"Nonsense, we have room." Brennan felt Booth kicking her foot, but she refused to look at him. "Christine can sleep on a cot in Hank's room and you can sleep in Christine's bedroom. She won't mind. She likes to sleep on a sleeping bag in Hank's room at least once a week. If you don't want to use Christine's room you can sleep in my office. It has a day bed in it. Booth has slept on it a few times and it does have an ergonomic mattress."

"Bones . . . remember Sweets." Booth was not happy about what was happening. Not at all. "He was with us for three months."

Brennan sighed and turned to look at her husband. "Yes, I remember. I really enjoyed having him with us. He took such good care of Christine plus he made excellent blueberry muffins. He never did give me his recipe and now . . . anyway, yes, I do remember. What's your point?"

Resigned to the inevitable, Booth picked up his cup of coffee and finished it off. "I guess I don't have a point."

Not sure what was going on, Aubrey looked at Booth and then Brennan. "So am I staying with you or not? I'm a little confused."

Muttering under his breath, Booth looked at the window to his left "Yeah, welcome to the club."

"It means you are more than welcome to stay with us." Brennan smiled at their friend. "You can't really live in your car. You're a Federal Agent. You have a certain gravitas that you must maintain and you can't do that living as a homeless person. Also, you can stay with us because we're friends and that's what friends do for each other."

"Thank you." Aubrey was happy that he had found a place to stay, but he knew when he got back to the Hoover he'd better check with Booth to make sure he was okay with it. The man was his partner, his boss and his friend and there was no way he was screwing that up. Booth didn't trust very many people as it was and it had taken the man a year to really consider him a friend. The man actually treated him like a younger brother and Aubrey didn't want to ruin that relationship. He didn't have any family as it was.

"You're welcome." Brennan watched as the waitress delivered her bowl of lentil soup and Booth's meatloaf and mash potatoes. After a spoonful of her soup was eaten, Brennan noticed that Booth hadn't picked up his fork. "Isn't that what you ordered?"

Aggravated with his wife, Booth picked up his fork and poked the slab of meat. "Yeah. I guess." After slicing off a corner of the meat slab, he shoved it in his mouth and chewed it slowly. Ready for a next bite, his phone rang and Booth answered it. The call was inconsequential and Booth wasn't sure why he'd been called, but he chose to use it as a way to escape the table. The call ended, he placed his phone in his pocket. "I have to go." Booth stood up, leaned over, kissed Brennan and left.

Once Booth was gone, Aubrey pulled Booth's abandoned plate towards him. "Can't let perfectly good meatloaf go to waste." Raising his hand, Aubrey gestured at the waitress nearby. "Hey, can I get some bread and butter and maybe a small order of grilled mushrooms . . . no make it a large order." The agent, picked up his BLT. "Mushrooms are good on meatloaf. That's how my mother made it anyway."

Puzzled why Booth hadn't explained what was so urgent that he would just leave, Brennan waved the waitress back over. "Please make a hamburger and an order of sweet potato fries and place it in a to go container." Once the waitress acknowledged the order, Brennan informed Aubrey. "That order is for Booth. He needs to eat. I don't like him to skip meals."

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Placing the bag of food on Booth's desk, Aubrey sat down. "Brennan ordered that for you."

While Booth opened the bag and pulled out the contents, Aubrey broached a much needed topic of conversation. "Is it okay with you that I stay at your house? You never really said yes, in fact it kinda of looked like you didn't want me to."

His burger unwrapped, Booth's stomach gurgled and he smiled. "Bones wants you to stay so that's fine with me. She has a big heart and she can't stand to see her friends suffer or anything if she can fix the problem."

Aubrey nodded his head. "She is pretty generous. Thanks for letting me stay with you guys. I appreciate it. I wasn't really kidding about sleeping in my car. I can do it if I have to."

"Nah." Booth swallowed his bite of burger. "You can stay as long as you need to. We've done it before with Sweets. It'll be fine . . . oh, you can't use my tub. You have to use the tub in the main bathroom. My bedroom bathroom is off limits."

"Uh, yeah not a problem." Not sure why he'd want to use Booth's tub, Aubrey gave his friend an odd look. "A man's bathroom is sacred."

Pleased that Aubrey understood the situation, Booth smiled and picked up a sweet potato fry. "See this . . . I like regular potatoes, but Bones wants me to eat healthier so sometimes she orders me stuff I wouldn't normally order. I eat it because it's usually okay and I can live with it. She does those things out of love."

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Aubrey felt like Booth was sending him a message, but he wasn't getting the signal.

"No message." Booth sighed. "No message at all. Just a personal observation that's all. If you get anything from it then good."

"Okay." Aubrey now knew that Booth was sending him a message, but damned if he knew what it was. _Damn it!_

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Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Once Aubrey was set up in Brennan's office at the B&B home, he realized that the situation wasn't going to be as awkward as he had first feared. The home office was on the other side of the living room and far from the other bedrooms and that was fine by him. He was close to the kitchen and that was sweet. He'd stopped at the store before arriving at his temporary home and bought some groceries since he didn't intend for Booth or Brennan to feed him for free. They'd objected like most good hosts do, but Aubrey had some snack requirements that he knew Brennan wouldn't provide being vegan and obsessed with healthy eating. He'd put them in a box and they were sitting under the day bed ready when needed. The situation was not perfect, but it was definitely better than sleeping in his car or his office.

It was Saturday morning and Aubrey had risen earlier than the rest of the household which surprised him. As quietly as he could, he'd prepared a bowl of cereal and carried it over to the counter to eat. After he was done, he'd washed the left over dishes from the previous evening, straightened the living room up a little bit and sat down on the couch to watch a little TV. He kept the sound down low and channel surfed until he'd found an old movie, 'Forbidden Planet' an old Sci-fi movie, but definitely a classic.

About halfway through the movie, Booth had walked down the hallway wearing an open robe barely covering his boxers and a t-shirt. The man moved like an octogenarian which Aubrey found disturbing.

Cracking knuckles as he went, Booth entered the kitchen, fixed the coffee pot and got that going. Once that was accomplished, he left the kitchen and walked back down the hallway to his bedroom moving stiffly and in obvious pain.

Next to appear, Brennan breezed down the hallway, dressed for the day in slacks, a big shirt and running shoes. With a small wave at Aubrey, Brennan walked over to the sink, noticed the dishes were washed and called out to her guest. "Thank you, but you didn't have to do this. You're our guest."

Aubrey left the living room and sat down at the counter. "While I'm living here I want to be treated like family, so I'll do my part . . . um, is Booth alright?"

"Yes of course." Brennan knew that Aubrey had witnessed Booth's painful morning ritual, but there was nothing anyone could do about it and she was concerned that Aubrey would think less of her husband. "Booth has some health issues, but they don't interfere with his job or his life. He just has an adjustment period every morning that he has to go through. He'll be alright after he's had a hot shower and dressed for the day."

Since Brennan obviously didn't want to talk about it, Aubrey assumed Booth was suffering from a history of torture, jumping out of planes and helicopters and the numerous times he'd been shot. All in all, a very rough life and Booth was living with the results. "Sure . . . what do you guys do on Saturdays?"

Removing the ingredients for pancakes from the cabinet, she lined them up on the counter and set up a griddle next to them. "Booth usually makes us pancakes for breakfast. Once we've eaten, we usually spend some time cleaning the house. Between the two of us, we're usually done in an hour or two. After that we run errands. Once those are accomplished our afternoon is free to spend with our children. We usually ask Christine if there is anything she'd like to do and if it's possible we do that. If she doesn't have a preference, Booth will come up with an idea or two. He's very inventive. Last weekend we had a picnic in the backyard and dressed up as cowboys. Christine was the Sheriff and she arrested Booth and I for littering. It was very amusing."

The idea of his hosts dressed as cowboys and playing with their children was adorable to Aubrey and made him want a family even more than he normally did. "That sounds like a lot of fun. I was an only child, so I never had a lot of kids to play with especially after what my father did . . . still someday I'd like to have a family and maybe three or four kids."

"Three or four." Brennan nodded her head. "Booth has three children and he is an excellent father. I hope you find someone that will share a life with you."

"Thanks." Audrey noticed Booth leave his bedroom and he looked better put together this time around, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and a pair out outrageously wild socks.

"Bones, you can get the kids up and I'll start making breakfast." Booth moved into the kitchen and poured a much needed cup of coffee.

While Booth gulped some of the needed caffeine, Aubrey moved around the counter. "Can I help?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Booth pointed at the fridge. "You can get out the bacon and start frying it. Since I assume you're hungry, cook the whole pound."

"Right." Aubrey decided not to mention the cereal he'd eaten earlier. He was still hungry and pancakes with a side of bacon sounded good to him.

After Booth had the pancake batter ready, he poured out some of the mixture on to the hot griddle, moved over to the fridge and removed some blackberries from the crisper. "Do you like blackberries? This weekend is berry pancakes. Last week was chocolate chip pancakes. Next week is banana pancakes."

"You have a pancake schedule?" Aubrey was slightly astonished that such a thing actually was possible.

A smirk on his face, Booth pointed at the cork board on the wall near the fridge. "We have lists."

Fascinated, Aubrey moved over to where the lists were and found a schedule for weekend breakfast, mostly pancakes by type and one weekend of waffles. Another schedule contained plans for meals to be served during the week and next to that a shopping list in progress. "I noticed that you guys eat vegetarian on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"Yeah, two nights a week won't kill us." They weren't Booth's favorite meals, but he tried to make Brennan happy by eating healthy at least two nights a week. "Marriage is all about compromise. Those are the nights Bones cooks. On Friday we trade off, one week she cooks the next week I cook. That isn't a vegetarian night by the way no matter who cooks. I usually cook on Monday and Wednesday and we both cook on the weekends although Saturday is usually takeout night. Christine gets to choose and she usually chooses pizza."

"Sounds efficient." Aubrey was impressed, but he assumed you had to keep a schedule when both spouses work and they have two small children. "I'll keep this in mind when I get married."

"Watch the bacon." Booth was busy pouring more batter on the griddle, two cooked pancakes now on a platter.

Racing back to the stove, Aubrey turned the bacon over and realized he'd come close to burning it. "I hope you like crispy bacon."

"Well I sure as hell don't like raw bacon." Booth rolled his eyes.

"You're not a morning person are you?" Aubrey stared at Booth's back.

Not taking it personally because he really wasn't a morning person, Booth sprinkled some berries on the bubbling pancakes. "Hell no and don't you forget that. I'm not fully awake until I've had my second cup of coffee and I've eaten."

"Daddy." Christine raced into the room and ran over to where her father was standing. "Daddy, hi Daddy."

Careful to step away from the hot griddle, Booth leaned over, swung his daughter up into his arms and kissed her. "Hi yourself pumpkin. You hungry?"

"I am Daddy." Christine stared at the pancakes and frowned. "You're burning them."

Hastily, Booth placed her on the floor and turned to look at his pancakes. "No they aren't you little troublemaker." Booth turned the pancakes over and found they were a nice golden brown.

Her laughter tinkling in the room, Christine walked over to where Aubrey was standing, hugged him and then raced around the counter to sit down and wait for breakfast. "Hank doesn't want to get up."

Brennan walked down the hallway with her cranky son sitting on her hip. Moving over to the counter, she checked to see what Booth and Aubrey were doing. "Like son like father. He is not a morning person."

Booth rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm the one that has to be pulled out of bed in the morning to get going."

"I like to sleep until the last possible minute." Brennan placed Hank in a high chair then entered the kitchen to prepare glasses of juice and to gather plates and forks. "You're the one that has to have caffeinated beverages before you can function properly."

Obviously an old argument, Aubrey listened shamelessly while both of his friends bickered and fussed at each other. He didn't know how they did it, but somehow all that fussing they did seemed to make them happy. They appeared to love the repartee and smiled a lot as they fussed at each other. _These people are amazing._ Certainly Christine took it all in stride and didn't seem to be upset with her parents. Mostly she just watched them and smiled.

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Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Sunday came and Aubrey was up by seven. Jumping in to the shower, he cleaned up and did a careful shave. Once that was accomplished, he dressed in a suit and tie and made sure his shoes passed muster. Finished he left the bathroom and noticed the B&B bedroom door was open. His eyes averted just in case, he moved down the hallway and found Booth dressed in a suit, brewing a pot of coffee. "Morning. Going to church?"

"Yeah, mass." Booth stood in front of the coffee maker and glared at how slow it was releasing coffee into the carafe below. He had a headache and he wanted the caffeine hoping it would stop the ache. "Bones doesn't go to church most of the time, so she and Hank stay home. Christine goes with me. After mass Bones brings Hank and meets us at the Diner for brunch."

A Poptart popped up in the toaster and Booth placed it on a paper towel. "This is for Christine. She gets cranky in church if she doesn't eat something before we go."

"I'm going to church too." Aubrey wanted to go to brunch with the family, but he didn't think it was his place to invite himself. "I usually eat after church too . . . by myself."

The coffee finally ready, Booth poured a cup of coffee, poured in some sugar, quickly stirred it and drank some of the much needed caffeine. Satisfied for the moment, Booth lowered the cup and stared at his friend. "You can meet us at the Royal Diner. We'll be there around eleven or so. It depends upon how much Father Timmons wants to put into the service."

"Oh, I don't want to intrude on your family time." Aubrey longed to say yes, but he didn't want to be a pain in the butt either. Apparently Lance Sweets had made part of his stay at the B&B home a few years ago a pain for Booth. Brennan had told him about Sweets use of Booth's tub and how that drove Booth nuts. "I'll just eat alone, maybe at McDonalds or something."

Entering the room with Christine, Brennan moved over to the coffee maker and poured a half a cup of coffee. "McDonalds? Nonsense, meet us at the Diner after church. We'd be more than happy to share brunch with you. The Diner has a wonderful Sunday brunch menu." Sipping the coffee, she found the first taste of the day to be delicious.

"I love their French toast." Christine hugged her father and accepted the Poptart from him. "It's yummy."

"There you go, it's settled." Booth poured coffee in to a travel mug and kissed Brennan. "Going back to bed?"

Her coffee finished, Brennan kissed Booth and then their daughter. "Of course. I'll meet you at the Diner at around eleven." Patting Aubrey on the shoulder, Brennan smiled at him as she walked around the counter and back to her bedroom. "You won't be intruding if you wish to join us. Of course you don't have to if you wish to eat alone."

"Uh, thanks. Maybe I will join you." Grateful that he was being included, Aubrey walked over to the coffee maker and poured the remaining coffee into his travel mug he had left on the counter next to the coffee pot. Irked that Booth hadn't left him enough to fill his very large travel mug, he sighed and decided he would nip by McDonalds for some coffee on the way to church and maybe buy a biscuit to tide him over until brunch. Or maybe two. Eleven was so long away.

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The Diner was full, but Aubrey spied the B&B family at the back of the diner. Hurrying down the aisle, he noticed that they were all looking at menus, so he wasn't late after all. Sitting down across from Booth, Aubrey smiled at him. "Man, I'm hungry."

Not really bothering to make a comment, Booth leaned over and pointed at an item on the menu to his daughter. "Look they have French toast with blackberries today."

Eager to order, Christine quickly nodded her head. "I want that and bacon and sausage and orange juice and some hash browns and . . ."

"Christine that is a lot of food." Brennan was alarmed at the amount of food her daughter wanted to order. "One meat and no hash browns. Last Sunday you didn't finish your French toast."

A little deflated, Christine nodded her head. "Okay. Mommy. French toast and bacon."

With a wink towards the little girl, Aubrey checked the menu and determined his selections. When the waitress arrived he placed his order. "Four eggs over easy, double order of hash browns, double order of bacon, an order of sausage, four slices of sour dough toast, coffee, orange juice. I think that will do for now. Thanks."

Fascinated with Aubrey's ability to eat such large quantities of food, Brennan shook her head and placed her order for French toast with blackberries, a coffee and a glass of cranberry juice. She planned to share her breakfast with Hank.

Booth ignored everyone and placed his order for three eggs over easy, bacon, an order of extra crispy hash browns, toast and coffee. His stomach was grumbling and he was anxious to eat. Once everyone had placed their order, Booth leaned on the table and stared out of the window. His head still hurt and he knew it was because he'd had a bad night because of a terrible nightmare. The images had been so horrific, he'd had a difficult time going back to sleep. Now he was tired, his headache didn't want to go away and there was no chance to rest until later that afternoon. He'd already taken a couple of Advil, but so far they weren't helping.

Aware that Booth was suffering from lack of sleep and the reason why, Brennan carried the conversation until brunch arrived. Aubrey enjoyed the conversation and once in a while he'd bring Christine into the conversation just to make sure the child didn't feel left out. Once his plate was in front of him, he cut up his sausage patty and slipped some of it on to the child's plate. Brennan didn't say anything and pretended not to see the subterfuge. After Booth had eaten some of his meal he seemed to perk up and joined the conversation adding in some jokes he thought Christine had never heard before.

All in all, Aubrey had enjoyed the family gathering and was reluctant to see it end. "I guess I'll see you guys back home. I have to change clothes and meet someone somewhere. We're uh, going to a movie."

"The red-haired intern?" Booth knew her name was Jessica, but he was teasing Aubrey and he was trying get him to admit that was who he was seeing. "You been seeing her a lot lately haven't you?"

"Her name is Jessica and we're just friends." Aubrey placed some money on the table to pay his part of the bill.

"Just friends." Booth pulled Brennan's free hand across the table towards his lips and kissed it. "We used to be just friends, weren't we Bones?" His eyebrows wiggled up and down which caused Hank to giggle. The boy loved his father and watched him very closely when he was with him. "Really good just friends."

Booths voice's was low and sultry which made Brennan shiver. "Yes, intimate just friends."

His cheeks a rosy color, Aubrey cleared his throat. "Yeah, I got to go."

Booth released Brennan's hand and chuckled. "Now we're just marrieds. I like that don't you Bones?"

"I do." Brennan smiled at Booth, while Hank smacked the table top and started to babble at his father. "I really do."

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"It's nice that Dr. B and Agent Booth are letting you stay at their home." Jessica opened the door leading out to the sidewalk and waited for Aubrey to join her. "How long do you think it will take to fix up your apartment?"

Munching on some popcorn, Aubrey hurried up and swallowed so he could answer her. "I don't know two or three weeks I guess. It wasn't just my apartment that was damaged. The apartment below mine was heavily damaged too."

Jessica linked her arm with Aubrey's as they walked across the street towards his SUV. "Well thank goodness your DVD collection wasn't ruined. You have the best SCI-FI collection I've ever seen."

"Yeah." The damage to Aubrey's possessions mostly consisted of his furniture, some books on the lower shelves of his bookcase and several pairs of shoes he had in a shoe tray at the front door. The water had been cut off before it reached his expensive electronic equipment or his games and DVDs. He was also thankful his suits were saved. He didn't have a big enough budget to replace everything and renters insurance wasn't going to cover everything. He was going to have to increase his policy that was for sure. "It could have been worse. And I'm saving a fortune not having to stay at a hotel."

"Would you like to eat dinner?" Jessica pointed at a Lebanese restaurant down the street.

A quick glance at his watch and the agent shook his head. "I've been invited to eat with the family and I said yes. Sorry. Maybe we can eat lunch tomorrow."

"That's fine." Jessica was disappointed, but she thought it was wise to keep his word with Dr. Brennan. "I'll call you tomorrow morning and let you know when I can meet you."

Arriving at the truck, Aubrey opened the passenger door. "Well, my lady, I'll drop you off at your home. Want me to stop at a restaurant and let you pick up some takeout. It wouldn't be any trouble."

Settled in the truck, Jessica smiled. "Thank you. You can stop by the Salad Shop. I think I'd like a Cobb salad for dinner . . . with lots of bacon."

"Um, bacon, extra bacon." Aubrey liked the sound of that. "Maybe I'll get one to go for later tonight . . . a nice healthy snack before I go to bed."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.


	4. Chapter 4

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I really do appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Each morning, Aubrey tried to be out of bed before the rest of the household. Booth had surprised him a couple of times, but only a couple when Aubrey had found the older agent in the kitchen. As a rule, Aubrey took the opportunity to get a shower, shave and dress before the kids were up and needed to use the bathroom. Once that was done, he'd go into the kitchen and start a pot of coffee. He knew that it was Booth's job to start the coffee each morning, but Aubrey thought since he was already up, why make his host wait for his first cup of coffee. Besides, Booth wasn't much of a morning person and if coffee made him pleasanter then Aubrey was all for making sure the man had his caffeine early.

A sleepy, very stiff Booth entered the kitchen each morning, glanced at Aubrey and then back at the ready coffee. Grateful that he didn't have to wait, Booth would fill a cup and pour in some sugar. After a perfunctory stir, Booth would swallow some of the hot coffee and sigh. Ignoring his house guest, Booth would slowly make his way back to his bedroom, where he would sit on the edge of the bed and offer Brennan the rest of his coffee. Usually he had to tug on one of her arms or legs to get her to take him seriously that she had to get up, but the smell of the coffee was enough to get her attention these mornings. After three days of ready-made coffee, Booth handed the mug to Brennan and made a suggestion. "Maybe we should buy one of those coffee makers with a timer on it. I kinda like having coffee ready for me when I go into the kitchen."

Brennan sipped the coffee and decided that was a good idea. "I'll go buy one today."

While Brennan savored her coffee, Booth entered the bathroom to take a hot shower. Brennan then moved off the bed, changed clothes and left the room to make her way down the hall to the kitchen where she usually found Aubrey eating his second bowl of cereal. On the fifth morning of Aubrey's stay, Brennan was surprised to find her guest busy making scrambled eggs and toast. "Aubrey you don't have to cook. Booth was going to make French toast this morning."

"I know." Aubrey dumped a pile of freshly cooked eggs on to a platter and starting breaking more eggs into a bowl. "You guys had a late night last night at work and I thought I'd make breakfast for everyone this morning. I know you don't eat eggs, so I have some oatmeal cooking in that pot there." Aubrey pointed to a small pot, poured the liquid eggs in the skillet and started moving a spatula through them. "I made it like Mom did. She substituted milk for water and added vanilla and sugar. Best way to eat oatmeal."

Since breakfast was being prepared and she didn't need to set up the griddle, Brennan left the kitchen and went back down the hallway to wake up her children. While his eggs were setting, Aubrey gave the oatmeal a quick stir and started buttering the toast he'd made so far.

His shower over and dressed for work, sans jacket, Booth entered the kitchen and found breakfast almost made. "Hey, you don't have to cook breakfast. That's my job."

"I know you're a great believer in pancakes and French toast, but I thought I'd mix it up a little and make eggs and oatmeal." Aubrey loaded the rest of the cooked eggs on to the platter and placed it on the island. "Besides you and Brennan had a late night interviewing that suspect and I've had more rest than you two have. "Just sit there, grab a plate from that stack on the counter and fill it up. You're welcome."

Actually amused with his partner, Booth hid his smile, picked up a plate, filled it up with eggs and some toast after Aubrey placed a plate of the toasted bread on the island as well. "Well, if you can't make French toast I guess this will have to do."

The sound of running feet coming down the hallway, Christine charged over to the island, climbed up on one of the stools, leaned over to hug her father and then clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh boy, eggs and toast. I love eggs and toast."

A smirk on his face, Aubrey placed a plate in front of the young girl and spooned some eggs on it. Once that was done, he plopped a slice of buttered toast on her plate. "Okay munchkin, I made these just for you."

Enthusiastically, the child picked up a fork and began to eat. "Uncle Aubrey these are really good."

Booth ignored his daughter's enthusiasm and started to eat breakfast. Brennan soon arrived and settled Hank on a high chair. Once that was accomplished, she placed a small plate of eggs in front of her son and then spooned oatmeal in a bowl for herself. "This looks intriguing, Aubrey." After she tasted it, she hummed. "Aubrey, this is quite delicious."

"Yeah." Aubrey was very proud of his culinary skills. "My Mom learned how to make it that way from her mother. I really can't eat oatmeal made any other way."

Breakfast was being enjoyed by all when three phones erupted in wildly different ringtones. A body had been dumped on a wooded piece of land attached to the Canadian Embassy and the District Police was willing to hand the crime scene over to the FBI.

While Brennan called Max to see if he could take Christine to school and Hank to day care, Booth and Aubrey cleared off the counter, placed the left over eggs and oatmeal in some bowls, stored them in the fridge and placed the dirty dishes and pans in the dishwasher.

Everything taken care of, Brennan picked up Hank and started walking down the hallway, Christine following her. "Booth you and Aubrey go and I'll go to the Lab as soon as Dad gets here."

Booth retrieved his gun and badge from the wall safe in the living room, retrieved his jacket and called out to Brennan. "We're going. I'll call you once we've seen the crime scene. Cam is already on the way along with that red-haired intern." A slight dig at Aubrey, Booth glanced at his friend and caught the glare on his face.

Brennan called out from Hank's room where she was changing the child's clothes. "Alright and the intern is named is Jessica Warren."

Aubrey hurried out the door and over to his SUV while Booth came out of the house and jiggled the door knob to make sure it was locked. "Booth, I'll meet you at the crime scene."

Booth waved his hand and sauntered over to his truck ready to start his day. The eggs had been good and he appreciated Aubrey's efforts. He really liked making breakfast, but a vacation from breakfast duty was nice once in a while. It was a shame there hadn't been any bacon though. _What's eggs without bacon?_

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Booth arrived at the crime scene before Aubrey. Apparently the younger man took a short cut and was slightly delayed because of an accident between a bread truck and a Honda Civic. Cam and Jessica were squatting next to the victim as Booth walked up to them and the Agent had to stop and shake his head at the sight before him. "What the hell happened to him?"

Busy studying the corpse, Cam shrugged her shoulders. "Well, you're correct, it is a male and I'm going to guess he fell partly into a wood chipper and this is what's left."

Hustling as fast as he could, Aubrey came around the oak tree near the crime scene, saw the victim and started swallowing hard. "Oh my God."

Amused at Aubrey's discomfort, Booth flipped open a notebook and glanced at his partner. "Yeah, we're going to have to find the rest of him. I don't see any body bits around here. This is definitely a body dump."

"Well part of a body dump." Jessica flashed Aubrey a smile. "It will be interesting to find out what happened to the rest of the body. If he really did fall into a wood chipper, either a wagon or a trailer is filled with blood and remains or someone's land is. Either way, it wouldn't be easy to clean that up."

Cam nodded her head. "Why not report it if it's an accident? Why a body dump? And why behind the Canadian Embassy?"

"Could be a message to someone at the embassy." Aubrey had finally got his stomach under control and had moved closer to where the body lay, although not too close. "Maybe someone in the embassy pissed someone off and this isn't an accident."

From experience, Booth had his doubts about that theory. "I'm going to go with accident until someone tells me different. As for why he's been dumped here, we'll have to ask the dumb ass who left him here."

Hodgins had been canvassing the woods and he finally rejoined the group surrounding the body. "Okay, I cannot find any more remains in the area. I searched over a thousand yards out along with the techs. The body was wrapped in several lawn and leaf bags and the poor nature enthusiast who found it was the one who opened it. There isn't much animal and insect depredation since the finder reported it as soon as he opened the bag this morning. Just by observing the discoloration of the plant life under the body, I'd guess the victim's only been here for two days. I'll know more once we get everything back to the Lab."

Impressed, Aubrey jotted down a few notes. "Okay, so we need to check and see if anyone has been reported missing in the last two days . . . if this isn't a murder then I don't get why dump the body."

"Because people are stupid, Aubrey." Nothing surprised Booth anymore. If there was anything he was certain of, it's that there are an awful lot of careless, stupid people in the world. "If it was a murder, I'm pretty sure the murderer would have made sure the whole body was destroyed in the wood chipper and he would have probably buried the evidence. This looks too much like someone panicked and tried to cover up an accident."

Jessica nodded her head. "That's pretty good. I like it."

"Once we get the body back to the Lab we should be able to tell you more." Cam stood up and stretched her lower back. "Identifying the body is going to be tough . . . no head, no hands. He fell in head first . . . poor guy."

The thought of what the victim went through made Aubrey feel nauseous "God that's terrible."

Her thoughts matching Aubrey's, Jessica nodded her head. "It sure is."

Done for now, Booth placed his notebook in his jacket pocket. "Hey Aubrey, I plan to stop for donuts. Want me to pick you up a dozen?"

Saliva filling his mouth, Aubrey turned slightly pale and looked away from the body. "No, I'm good."

"Okay, it's up to you." Booth turned and walked away from the body. "I'm thinking an apple fritter would be pretty good with a cup of coffee."

"Wait, apple fritter." Rushing after Booth, the younger agent was no longer thinking about the victim. "Booth, I want an apple fritter, well make it two . . . Booth did you hear me? You can get me three apple fritters if you're going to go get you one for yourself."

Amused, Booth kept walking. "Sure you don't want a dozen?"

"No, four is fine." Aubrey caught up with Booth and slowed his pace to match Booth's. "I don't want to ruin my lunch."

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	5. Chapter 5

(Season 11)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

While waiting for the identification of their victim, Aubrey and Booth worked on paper work. After a while, his apple fritters mere crumbs on his desk, Aubrey grabbed his coffee mug, walked down to the break room and filled up his mug with coffee sprinkled with a hint of cinnamon. Once that was done, he ambled down the stairwell to the fourth floor, down the hallway and over to Booth's office. His supervisor busy reading a file, Aubrey moved into the room and sat down. "I was thinking of going over to the Lab and seeing if they're any closer to the identification of our victim."

His fact stoic, Booth closed the file, leaned back against his chair and pursed his lips. Amused that Aubrey was trying to be so subtle about why he wanted to go to the Lab, Booth decided to do a little chain yanking. Besides, he and Brennan had a little friendly argument going on about Aubrey and a certain red-haired intern and Booth wanted to win that argument. Booth decided to see just how many excuses Aubrey would come up with to go to the Lab. "Nah, they'll call when they have something."

"Well, I have some reports I need Cam and Brennan to sign, so I thought I'd take them over there and get them to sign them." Aubrey sipped some of his coffee, staring at Booth over the rim of the cup. "You know, kill two birds with one stone."

His face as emotionless as he could make it, Booth shook his head. "Nah, we have a courier service for that."

Growing frustrated, Aubrey desperately searched his mind for a good reason to go the Lab. "While I'm there, I can check on the identification of our victim, bring the paper work over there that needs signing, pick up Brennan's reports that I know she completed this morning and why waste courier's time when I want to check with Angela and see if she's come up with a scenario to explain how the body got the way it did? She told me she'd have it ready by ten." Before Booth could say anything to dampen Aubrey's plans the younger agent stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll be back in a little while."

"Say hello to the red-haired intern for me." Booth leaned on his desk and smugly waited for his friend's response.

"Her name is Jessica, why can't you remember her name?" Aubrey was getting very annoyed with Booth's refusal to call Jessica by her name. "That seems a little sexist to me."

"Sexist?" Booth laughed. Accusing him of being sexist was very funny to Booth. "Yeah, right. When you've had a partner like Bones for over ten years then you get back to me about sexism. Bones would eat me alive if I ever tried any sexist bullshit around her. I'm not crazy . . . go to the Lab since you're determined to go."

"I will." Aubrey waved his cup in front of him. "I have work to do. I'll be back."

Once Aubrey was gone, Booth called his wife. "Ha, you owe me an apple pie."

 _Aubrey is coming over?_

"I told you he'd find a way to come over once he found out that Jessica is there this week. I came up with reasons for him not to go over there and he shot me down every time."

 _I don't think we should have placed a wager, Booth. Even though it's a pie that is a form of gambling._

Suddenly somber, Booth closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Bones, I didn't really make a bet, okay? This is just me winning an argument. You were the one that insisted that Aubrey wouldn't come by the Lab today because it wasn't necessary. I'm the one that said he'd find a reason and you're the one who promised me a pie if I won my argument. I did not make a bet . . . okay? I'm not gambling, Bones. I won't ever do that again. I won't do that do you, to us, I promise."

 _I'm sorry Booth. I should have more trust in you. I . . ._

"No, don't apologize. I screwed up and I know you're afraid I might fall again, but I won't. I have too much to lose . . . Look never mind about the pie. You're right, that's just a back door to gambling."

 _Booth, I do have faith in you. I know you learned your lesson, but no, I won't get you a pie. It is a back door to gambling. We should be more careful about that sort of behavior. I made a mistake making it seem like I wanted to wager with you. I won't do that again._

He knew his past was always going to haunt him, but it was up to him to stay straight and not to worry Brennan about it. "We both won't do that again, Bones. It's fine . . . Anyway, Aubrey is on the way over and I'm sure he's going to find a way to talk to Jessica."

 _You're probably right, since you were right about him finding a way to come over this morning. I'll see you at lunch._

"That you will Bones." Embarrassed, Booth ended the call and glared at the top of his desk. "Dumb ass, quit reminding Bones of your stupid ass failures."

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He spied Jessica on the platform and that brought a smile to his face. As he moved towards the platform, he was intercepted by Brennan. "Aubrey, have you come by to pick up my report for Booth?"

Reluctantly, Aubrey turned to face Brennan. "Yeah, I told Booth I'd come by and drop off some reports that you and Cam need to sign while I was at it. I just left them in Cam's office. Angela told me she might have something to show me about how our victim ended up in the wood chipper."

"Excellent." Brennan pointed down the hallway towards Angela's office. "We can both go and observe her scenario together."

A longing look at the platform and Aubrey knew he'd have to go with Brennan. "Sure, let's go."

While Angela used her Angelatron to show the likely scenario to explain what had happened to their John Doe, Aubrey swallowed a few times, afraid he was going to throw up any minute. "So a heavy branch probably got stuck in the hopper, he reached in with both hands to pull it out without stopping the wood chipper first and it yanked him back into the chute?" Aubrey shuddered in sympathy. "That poor bastard."

A heavy sigh her answer, Angela nodded her head, while Brennan made a comment. "If he'd turned off the wood chipper before trying to unjam the device he would probably be alive today."

A feeling of nausea once more swept through him, forcing Aubrey to swallow convulsively. Once he was certain that he wasn't going to embarrass himself, the Agent sighed. The last thing he needed was for the four apple fritters he'd eaten earlier that morning to come back up in front of Brennan and Angela. "Well, let me or Booth know when you have an identity."

"I will." Angela had been forced to enter a wide set of parameters into her search pattern in the missing persons database since they had no way of knowing what the man looked like and so far the parameters had caused more hits than were practical. "I'm waiting for more data from Brennan and Jessica so I can narrow down the field of missing people. Also, it's only been about two days and no one may have reported him missing yet."

"Okay." Aubrey removed his notebook from his jacket pocket, dashed off a couple of notes and placed the notebook back into his jacket pocket. "Well, I guess I'll go back to the Hoover and wait. Thanks Angela." As he left the office, he turned to walk towards the platform only to be stopped by Brennan.

"Is there some reason why you are walking in the opposite direction of the entrance to the Lab?" Brennan stared at Aubrey, waiting to see what excuse he might make up to see her intern.

Frustrated with Brennan, Aubrey turned and walked towards the entrance. "Yeah, too much on my mind I guess . . . Oh wait, don't you have some reports you'd like me take back to the Hoover? I'll just wait for them right here. Cam said she'd sign hers, so I might as well collect hers and leave with everything. Why pay a courier if I'm here?"

"Yes, that would be fiscally responsible." Brennan was well aware that Aubrey wanted to talk to Jessica, but she thought it would be amusing to temporarily thwart his plans. The man was trying so hard to pretend he wasn't interested in Jessica and Brennan found that to be ridiculous since even she could tell he was interested in her. Well, if he wanted to be that way, then she thought it might be interesting to prevent him from talking to her intern and see how he reacted. Also, she thought Booth would appreciate the humor in the situation when she told him about it later. "Come with me, I'll get my reports for you and then we'll go to Cam's office, retrieve my reports you left with her, I'll sign them and you can take her reports and mine with you. Thank you, Aubrey this is very efficient."

Resigned that he was not going to get to talk to Jessica, Aubrey followed Brennan to her office, glancing at the platform while he followed her. _Maybe I should just call her, damn it. This pussy footing around is not working._

Once he collected the reports from Cam and Brennan, Aubrey glanced at the platform as he left the coroner's office and noticed that Jessica was no longer there. Hodgins noticed him and waved at him though. Disappointed, Aubrey walked out of the Lab and down the hallway to the elevator. Once there he called the car and much to his surprise, when the doors opened he found Jessica standing inside.

"Well, it's about time, Superman." Jessica laughed at the expression on the Agent's face. "I've been up and down to the Lobby in this elevator three times waiting for you to show up. I'm making a coffee run for both Curley and myself. Want to go with me?"

Pleased at the invitation, Aubrey stepped into the elevator and punched the Lobby button. "You bet . . . I was going to talk to you, but by the time I was done with Brennan and Cam you weren't on the platform anymore."

Amused, Jessica grinned. "I witnessed your trek from Dr. B's office to Cam's office. I thought a coffee break was in order and Curley said he could use some too. I'm also going to get Dr. B one just in case she wants it. If naught, I'll drink it."

His plan hadn't quite worked out like he'd planned, but since the end results were fine how could he complain? "I'll help you bring back the coffees . . . hey how would you like to go to lunch with me this afternoon?"

"I'm not sure when I'll be free, but if you're prepared to wait, then sure." The elevator arrived at the Lobby, so Jessica left the car and walked over to the entrance. "Maybe you can get a snack to tide you over."

"Sounds like a good idea." The thought of pie sounded good to him. "I'm feeling a little peckish." The memory four apple fritters were quickly forgotten.

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	6. Chapter 6

(Season 11)

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Oooooooooooooooooo

With no word yet on who the wood chipper victim was and with no other open cases at the moment, both Booth and Aubrey managed to leave work on time. A rare and much appreciated event as far as Booth was concerned. Before he left, Booth called Brennan and let her know he was going to the grocery store on the way home. Aubrey was making a noticeable dent in the food in the kitchen and Booth thought it might be a good idea to stock up on some of the stuff he liked. Much to his annoyance, his younger friend had found his stash of double stuff Oreo cookies and had eaten all but two. Since Booth usually scarfed down about six at a time, those two cookies had barely indulged his chocolate craving. He realized that he was going to have to change where he hid his cookies if he wanted to continue to enjoy his chocolate indulgence. Notot only was he hiding them from Christine and Hank, now he had to hide them from the insatiable James Aubrey.

At the store, Booth walked up and down the aisles and in the end filled his basket with groceries and snacks. His snacks were mostly nutritious snacks since Brennan was worried about his high salt and fat intake. Vegetarian night was his concession to her worried state about his health and this Thursday, since he was going to cook that night, he wanted to make some grilled vegetable kabobs served with wild rice. Normally Brennan cooked on Vegetarian night, but she had committed to teaching an intro class for anthropology for the next six Thursdays and it would be Booth's job to cook on those nights. He didn't mind and it would give him the opportunity to cook some of the vegetables that he liked. _And no damn tofu._

Moving down the cookie aisle, Booth picked up two bags of double stuff Oreos and two bags of Scottish shortbread. Christine had mentioned that one of her friends had brought shortbread to school and ate it with lunch and she wanted to do the same. Apparently, Lizzy was one of Christine's new best friend and best friends shared desserts. Brennan hadn't really wanted to allow their daughter to take cookies to school instead of fruit, but Booth pointed out that a cookie shared with a friend wouldn't add a lot of calories to the child's diet and it's hard to share an apple.

After he made sure he had an extra gallon of milk, juice and eggs, he finished his shopping by moving down the bread aisle and picked up a couple of loafs of bread, a bag of English muffins and a big jar of peanut butter. _Damn I hope this lasts until the weekend. The next trip to the market and Aubrey is coming with me. I cannot figure out how he can get away with eating so much. It's almost impossible how much that guy eats or at least it should be._

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Much to Booth's surprise, Brennan was cooking dinner when he got home. It was his night to cook and he'd planned on cooking Shrimp Scampi, but with the help of Aubrey, Brennan had put together a dinner of Garlic Shrimp Linguine and broccoli salad which sounded just fine to Booth. While Booth stored the groceries in the cabinets and refrigerator, he held back the bags of cookies and carried them down the hallway to his bedroom. Once he hid them in the closet, he came back and set the table. "Aubrey, if you want to call your friend and ask her to come over for dinner you can. Looks like we have plenty."

"Um, my friend?" Aubrey sliced some French bread and tried to figure out what Booth was up to.

"Ms. Warren, Aubrey." Brennan winked at Booth and poured the cooked garlic shrimp in a serving bowl. "Booth means Jessica. If you would like to invite her over to dinner, it probably isn't too late."

As he plated the bread, Aubrey felt Booth and Brennan staring at him. "Why would I want to do that, besides we're getting ready to eat? By the time she got over here everything would be cold and the kids would have to wait and . . ."

"Okay, okay." Booth helped Christine sit at the table, while Brennan placed Hank in his high chair. "We get it. You don't have to invite her over tonight. We just thought you might like friends to come over. No reason why you can't have friends over to eat a meal with us. Bones and I have date night every Friday night when we aren't working a case. Sometimes Max comes and picks up the kids and Hodgins and Angela come over and we eat a meal and play some board games or just talk. If you want to invite your girlfriend over you can."

"Whoa, I don't have a girlfriend." Even though Aubrey considered Jessica a really good friend, he didn't think they were anything but friends at the moment. "She's a friend, not my girlfriend. Can't a guy have a friend who's a woman and her not be his girlfriend?"

As Booth walked around the table, he placed his hand on Brennan's arm and kissed her cheek. "Actually he can." Booth smiled at his wife, walked to his seat and sat down. "A man and woman can be friends for a really long time before they finally put the moves on each other. Believe me, we know."

"Most definitely." Brennan sat down and placed a small bowl of pasta in front of their son. "In fact Booth and I discovered being married to your best friend makes your marriage quite strong. We're friends first and spouses second. It's helped us when things have gone terribly wrong. Friendship is a sound foundation for marriage."

"Whoa, whoa." Aubrey sat down and filled his plate with pasta. "Jessica and I are friends. Just friends. We watch movies together and play video games and stuff like that. We're good friends, but we aren't talking about marriage or anything."

Booth shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the bowl from Aubrey before more of the pasta disappeared on the man's plate. Once he scooped enough on Christine's plate to satisfy her, he spooned the rest on to his plate. Thankfully, Brennan didn't eat shrimp, so she was going to eat Broccoli salad and a dish of garlic tofu pasta she had made for herself. "That's up to you. Whether she's your friend or your girlfriend, invite her over for dinner if you want to or you can invite her over for barbeque this Sunday. I think Cam, Michele, Caroline and Max plan to be here. Hodgins and Angela have something they have to do with her Dad, so they can't come."

"Yes, Ms. Warren is more than welcome." Brennan checked to make sure that her son was eating and then attended to her own meal. "Angela says Jessica gets lonely since her commune broke up and needs to be included in family fun sometimes. Angela invites Ms. Warren to dinner at least once a week. Michael Vincent likes her."

Since Aubrey couldn't really come up with a good reason not to invite her, he sighed and nodded his head. The last thing he wanted to do was insult Booth or Brennan. After all, he was living in their house for free and they didn't seem to mind. "Sure, I'll ask her."

Booth clapped his hand on Aubrey's shoulder rather roughly and grinned. "It's a barbeque Aubrey not an execution." The agent winked at Brennan and knew she had no clue why he'd just said that. He'd explain it to her later when they were alone and really, he did want to be alone with his wife. All this talk about friendship and marriage and Booth was feeling mighty lucky to have what he had. He most definitely wanted to show Brennan just how much he appreciated being with her. He had a few ideas that would make sure she understood just how much he loved her. _Oh yeah._

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	7. Chapter 7

(Season 11)

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It was early Friday morning and Aubrey was surprised to find Booth sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. He had become used to beating everyone else up on most days, so to see Booth sitting quietly at the island was a little out of the ordinary. "Hey Booth." Moving into the kitchen, Aubrey noticed that the griddle for pancakes was ready and that the batter was already mixed. "You've been up a while."

Debating whether to explain what was going on, Booth decided that the current situation was a private matter even when it involved someone he considered a friend. "I get up early sometimes. I went jogging this morning." Finishing his coffee, Booth placed his mug down, stood up and walked down the hallway to the bedroom. Sliding the door open as quietly as he could, he moved into the room and slid the door closed behind him. Still moving quietly, he moved across the room and sat on the edge of the bed next to Brennan. "Bones . . . do you want me to call Cam and tell her that you're staying home for the day?"

Feeling lethargic, Brennan turned her head so she could look at her husband. "No . . . I'm fine. I don't think I should miss work. I'm not sick."

He had known she would balk at the suggestion, but he wanted to give her the option. "That was a hell of a nightmare last night Bones. I know you didn't sleep well after you woke up . . . "

"And you didn't sleep at all." Brennan knew her husband and she knew that if she woke him anytime in the early hours of the morning, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. She hated that she did that to him, but she didn't have control over her dreams. Booth usually jogged on mornings like this one and then got ready for work while she tried to sleep. "Perhaps you should rest and go in later this morning."

Booth gently rubbed her hip and smiled. "Nah, I'm fine. If you're going to go to work you need to get up. I'll go get the kids up and then I'll make pancakes. I have the batter ready to go."

Reluctantly, Brennan sat up and stretched her arms. As she did that, she moved her arm so that her hand could touch Booth's shoulder. The contact made her feel better. "You don't have to do that. It will only take me a few minutes to get ready. I'll wake the children. You go to the kitchen and start making breakfast. Since Aubrey is living with us, you know you'll have to cook extra pancakes, so you should start as soon as possible."

Booth leaned over and kissed her. Their kiss one of tenderness, they enjoyed the promise of the kiss. "Promise me that if you get tired, you'll take a nap today."

"I can't make that promise, Booth." Brennan had a busy schedule and she doubted she'd have time for more than a quick lunch let alone a nap. "If I forgo lunch it might be possible, I'll see."

"I'll bring you lunch so you don't waste time going to get it. That way you can eat something and get in a little nap." Booth stood up, walked over to the dresser, knotted his tie and frowned. "I need a new tie. This one is starting to fade a little." A quick glance to make sure that Brennan was out of bed, Booth left the room and went back to the kitchen. When he entered the room, he pointed at the fridge. "Aubrey, you get bacon duty again."

Taking the bacon out of the fridge, Aubrey placed it on the counter, grabbed a skillet from the cabinet and placed it on the stove. "You know, I have time to cook two pounds of bacon if you want me to." Quickly tearing the package, Aubrey remove five slices from the package, laid them in the pan and watched then start to sizzle. "You'd have leftovers for BLTS."

Incredulous, Booth snorted. "Left overs? I'm pretty sure you could eat a whole pound by yourself for breakfast."

"Yeah, well, but I was thinking about making BLTS with pancakes and take them with me for a mid-morning snack." The thought of the unusual sandwich made him salivate. "I tried that once in college and man was that good."

His nose wrinkled at the thought of such a thing, Booth poured batter onto his now hot griddle. "Really? You'd put bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise on pancakes?" Mayonnaise on pancakes really sounded disgusting. Was there anything the man wouldn't eat?

"No no . . . no mayonnaise." Aubrey was willing to experiment when it came to food, but that was a step too far. "Come on, what are you a Philistine? No condiments . . . although, maybe leave off the lettuce and use honey as a condiment." The sound of the sizzling bacon captured his attention and he quickly turned the slices over before they started to burn. "Anyway, we could make BLTS using that French bread you're so partial too and we could make BLT poboys and take those to work for snacks."

After he flipped the cooked pancakes on to a plate, Booth poured more batter on the griddle. "Poboys are not snacks. They're meals . . . Damn Aubrey why are you so damn skinny? If I ate like that I'd have to double my workout routine every day."

"You work out?" Aubrey watched his bacon sizzle and decided that he might go to the store that evening and by more bacon. He was really hungry for a BLT.

"Sure I do, when I can." Booth used the gym at the Hoover at least four days a week. He usually put in an hour before he came home and he jogged early in the morning at least three days a week including Saturday and Sunday. He hadn't done it the previous Saturday since it had rained that morning, but he had jogged Sunday morning before he got ready for church and a couple of hours ago. "My jogging routine is a little erratic, but I do keep a pretty good schedule at the gym." As he flipped the pancakes over, Booth glanced at his very slim friend. "Want to jog with me Saturday if the weather is good?"

A little appalled that the conversation had taken such an ugly turn, Aubrey quickly shook his head. "No I'm good. I work out a few days a week at the Hoover. Jogging . . . I don't do jogging. I had enough of that when I was at Quantico. I'm in good shape, I got a great looking body . . . why ruin it with over exercising?"

Not sure if he was being slammed or not, Booth stared at his friend with hooded eyes. "I'm in good shape because I jog and exercise . . . you saying I'm not?"

"No of course not." The conversation had just taken a very bad turn and Aubrey was shocked at how easily that had happened. "You're tall, well-built and pretty good looking . . . can we change the topic? This is getting weird."

Chuckling, Booth shook his head and checked his pancakes. "Not a problem."

Brennan entered the kitchen with Hank on her hip and Christine skipping along behind her. "Is the bacon burning?"

His attention back on the skillet, Aubrey pulled the bacon out of the skillet with a fork and onto a plate. They were slightly scorched, but they were fine. "Nah, I like mine extra crispy. I'll make the rest not so crispy . . . not raw though." He had seen both Booth shake his head and Brennan open her mouth and he wanted to avoid a lecture. Too late.

"Aubrey you should never eat raw bacon." Brennan placed Hank in his high chair and moved over to the cabinet to retrieve plates and forks. "Eating raw bacon can expose you to bacteria and parasites that can cause bacterial infections or trichinellosis, a parasitic infection. Bacterial infections and trichinellosis can cause gastrointestinal symptoms that can be quite unpleasant."

A smirk on his face, Booth listened as his wife lectured their guest about other parasitic diseases. _He'll learn._

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	8. Chapter 8

(Season 11)

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Booth was called out to an incident at Eagle Bank on Connecticut Ave. around nine and took Aubrey with him. A man had entered the bank and handed a note to the teller asking her to place all of the money in her till in a bag and hand it to him. He had surreptitiously showed her a pistol and the teller had done as asked. An off-duty Metro police detective who was there cashing a check had noticed the interaction between the robber and the teller and had tried to stop the robbery. The gunman reacted by grabbing a teenager standing in line behind him and held the young girl around the throat ordering the detective to leave the area along with the other patrons.

The father of the child tried to rescue his daughter and was hit on the head with the barrel of the gun causing the girl to scream. By then someone had pressed the alarm for the bank and the police were on the way. Forcing everyone to leave except for the bank manager and the girl he was holding hostage, the robber had the bank manager lock the door and he waited for the police to come. He knew it wouldn't be long.

When Booth and Aubrey arrived they found a police captain waiting for them. "Agent Booth, we have a man in the bank holding two hostages. One of the hostages is a fifteen year old girl and the other is the bank manager." Pointing towards an ambulance parked up the street, Captain Gilbert explained further. "The father of the girl tried to pull her from the robber and he was hit on the head with a gun. The EMTs don't think he has a skull fracture, but he is hurt, maybe a concussion. I called inside the bank and the bank manager answered the phone. The bank manager, Mr. Thomas Greeley says that the robber won't talk to me. He insisted on talking to you. That's why I called you."

After he was given the number of the bank, Booth called and was soon on the phone with the bank manager. "Sir, I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI. I'd like to talk to him please."

A momentary pause and another voice came on the line. "Booth, I fucked up. I want to give up, but I don't want to be shot by the cops, so I waited for you to show up. I'm going to send out the girl and then the bank manager. I'm going to step out of the bank with my hands up and then I'm going to lie on the ground if that's what you want me to do. Got that? Don't shoot me, Booth."

Shocked that the man seemed to know him, Booth worried about who might be on the end of the line. "If you do as you say then you won't be shot." Booth moved over to the entrance of the bank with Aubrey following him. Standing to the side of the door, Booth continued the conversation. "Okay, whenever you're ready."

The robber, Glen Brown saw Booth and another man standing near the door and knew that he might as well get it over. "Okay, my hostages are coming out now. Once they're out I'm coming out. Now remember don't shoot me. I'm going to pitch my gun through the door first, so I will be unarmed when I come out."

True to his word, the girl came out of the door and then the bank manager. Once the hostages had raced across the street towards a group of waiting police officers, the door cracked open and a pistol sailed through the door passed Booth. Next the door opened wider and Glen moved out onto the sidewalk with his hands in the air. Once free of the door, he knelt on the ground and waited.

Stunned that he actually knew the holdup man, Booth aimed his gun at Glen and motioned for Aubrey to check the would-be bank robber for any more weapons. Once that was complete and Aubrey stood back he aimed his gun at the suspect too. "Okay stand up with your hands clasped behind your neck." Glen complied and Booth read the man his rights. Sick that this was happening, Booth felt his hand trembling slightly and he knew that he had to accept what was going on and do his job.

Relieved that the incident had worked out so peacefully, Booth watched Aubrey handcuff Glen and followed the two as the former Ranger was escorted to Booth's SUV. Once the suspect was in the truck, Aubrey sat in the back seat with Glen and Booth drove them all back to the Hoover in silence.

Once they had Glen Brown in an interrogation room, Booth had an agent guard the would-be bank robber, ran his name through the NCIC database and found that Glenn had a clean criminal record. Not sure why the former Ranger had decided to rob the bank, Booth knew that this was going to be a rough interview.

Sitting in the room with Glen, Booth placed a folder on the table in front of him. "Why Glen? Why rob a bank for God's sake?"

Glen shrugged his shoulders. "I got laid off of my job six months ago and I haven't found anything else. I have bills piling up and I couldn't pay them, so I thought I'd find a way to get some money fast, but I screwed up. I thought I could just get some money, go home and pay my bills. What a dummy . . . I didn't mean to hit that guy, but he rushed me and I hit him to get him away from me. It was that or shoot him and there was no way I was going to murder someone."

"He was the girl's father." Booth closed the folder and leaned back against his chair. "He was afraid for his daughter."

Disgusted that his plan fell apart so quickly, Glen sighed. "Yeah, I figured . . . anyway here I am. I gave myself up and I'm cooperating. No one was killed I just screwed up. It's a good thing my dog died. I wouldn't have had anyone to take care of her. She died of cancer last month . . . anyway I guess I'm ready. I'll just plead guilty to save time."

Glen was the most cooperative bank robber Booth had ever dealt with and it made him a little uncomfortable especially since they'd served together in Desert Storm. Glen had been with him when he'd been captured by the Republican Guard and had suffered at their hands just like he had. "I'm sorry about your dog."

"Yeah, I loved that little mutt. She was just six years old, but she got cancer and the vet tried to save her, but . . . she died. My little Lizzy was the only family I had too . . . Life can be shit sometimes. I don't know if you remember, but I've been on my own since I was sixteen. I've made some poor choices in my life, but at least I had my Lizzy in my life for a little while. Happiest days of my life. She loved me."

Booth knew that there were the many ways that a man's life could be ruined. He had seen a lot of wrecked lives in his line of work and though Glen had tried to rob a bank, Booth felt sorry for the man. He had been a good man and he could only assume that Glen might not have come out of the war whole. "Yeah." Booth stood up. "You sure you don't want a lawyer?"

"No." The man leaned forward and placed his arms on the table. "I'm not the smartest man around, but I know I'm going to be convicted anyway. I don't need a lawyer to defend me. It's alright, Booth. You made sure I didn't get killed this morning and I want to thank you. I'll just plead guilty and that's that. Don't worry about it."

Worried that Glen was rolling over too fast and too easily, Booth left the room and called his friend Hank Latrell. Hank was a retired judge. Booth knew that his friend took pro bono cases sometimes and since Glen was a former comrade in arms he knew that Hank would want to help. Booth couldn't let Glen Brown go through the system without representation. It didn't set well with him that the man had given up on his life so easily. He had never given up on his brother's in arms and he never would.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Booth brought Brennan a salad and a cup of soup for lunch as soon as he'd talked to Hank and his friend had arrived at the Hoover to talk to Glen. Caroline wasn't too pleased about Booth arranging to get Glen representation, but she understood why. Booth had a soft spot for people who were alone and had no family. It was one of the things that made Booth so human in Caroline's estimation. That and the way he protected his family and his friends. Since Glen was a former Ranger that meant that Booth had to try to help him. Booth was her favorite person in the world and this just gave her one more reason to admire him even if he was inconveniencing her.

"Hiya Bones." Booth placed the bag on Brennan's desk and handed her a large glass of iced tea. As he sat down, he noticed the dark circles under Brennan's eyes. "How you feeling? Tired?"

"A little." Brennan had worked diligently all morning, but felt almost too tired to move at the moment. Grateful for the lunch, Brennan slowly opened the bag and pulled out the salad and soup. "I made a mistake last night working on my notes for my new book. Going to bed at 1 a.m. and then waking from a nightmare at 3:45 a.m. wasn't conducive to a restful sleep . . . I just may eat the soup and lie down for a while. I can eat the salad later."

Concerned for her, Booth stood up, leaned over the desk and pulled the top off of the soup container placing it back in front of her. "It's lentil soup."

Normally she would have fussed at him about opening the container when she could do it, but she just didn't have the energy at the moment. That didn't go unnoticed by Booth. "Hey, let's cancel date night tonight. Everyone can go to bed early tonight and get a good night's sleep."

Reluctantly, Brennan nodded her head. "Perhaps that would be a good idea. You didn't get a lot of sleep last night either."

Just to emphasize her words, Booth yawned then nodded his head. "Yeah, I could use some extra sleep too. I'll let Hodgins and Angela know. Aubrey is going to the movies tonight. Some retro science fiction thing."

"Alright." Brennan felt bad that their date night was going to be cancelled. "I'm sorry Booth. . . "

"Don't be." Booth smiled warmly at his wife. "How many times have I woke you up because I was having one of my damn nightmares? It's alright. We don't have control over our nights sometimes that's all. It's not like we haven't missed date night before. Finish your soup and lay down on your couch for a while." As she picked up her spoon, Booth stood up and walked around the desk. After he kissed her cheek he left her to her lunch.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Aubrey was sitting in the diner talking about the bank robbery that morning to Jessica. "That was the weirdest bank robbery I've ever been involved in. Turns out the bank robber served with Booth in Operation Desert Storm. He wanted Booth there to make sure that the police didn't just gun him down."

"That is weird." Jessica poked a French fry in some garlic mayonnaise. "Poor Agent Booth. I bet he felt bad arresting someone he actually knew."

"Well yeah, but he had to do his job." Aubrey stared at his burger and didn't feel very hungry. "It's so messed up. Booth called one of his friends who used to be a judge. The guy is going to represent Glen Brown in court."

Sympathetic, Jessica nodded her head. "I'm glad Agent Booth's friend is being helped. I mean it's bad to rob a bank and all, but still . . . ."

"Yeah." Aubrey picked up his burger and pushed a tomato back under the bun. It had tried to escape and that wasn't going to happen. "I watched the interrogation in the observation room. I guess Glen doesn't have any family and no one is going to miss him. It sucks when you have no family left to be there for you." Aubrey knew exactly how that felt since his mother was dead and his father was no longer in his life not that he ever wanted to see that sorry son-of-a-bitch again. He had friends though and it did help. "Booth will make sure the man at least gets a fair trial, though he robbed a bank and he will go to jail for that."

Jessica knew that Aubrey had no family and she felt sad for him. At least her father was still alive and she had brothers to back her up if she needed it. She didn't want to think about her mother. "Well, I heard Dr. Brennan tell Daisy that there are different kinds of families. Sometimes you just have to create your own family if you don't have any family left."

"She's right." Aubrey didn't have a lot of friends, but those he did have made him feel like he wasn't alone in the world. Booth and Brennan treated him like a younger brother and he thought that was wonderful. Booth was the kind of man that anyone would be proud to call a friend and a brother. "You can't cut yourself off from the world when your family is gone. It can mess you up." After he took a bite of his burger, Aubrey chewed it slowly as he watched Jessica bite into her grilled chicken sandwich. After he swallowed, he placed the burger down on his plate. "Jess, Booth and Brennan are having a barbecue this Sunday. You want to come? I think Cam and her daughter Michelle are coming as well as Caroline and maybe Brennan's Dad. Booth said I could invite a friend."

"Why thank you friend." Jessica smiled and dipped another French fry in her garlic mayonnaise. "Aubrey you should try this. Dr. Saroyan told me about it. It's so good."

Grabbing a fry, Aubrey dredged a fry in the condiment and moaned. "Oh my God." Waving his hand, he caught the attention of a waitress. "I'd like some more fries and some garlic mayonnaise please." Once he was sure the order was placed, Aubrey turned his attention back to Jessica. "So we don't know who the wood chipper guy is yet?"

"Not that I know of." Jessica didn't really want to talk about that particular case while she was eating. "What time is the barbecue?"

Embarrassed, Aubrey realized that he didn't know. "Um, well I forgot to ask. I'll text you when I find out."

"Okay." Jessica looked out of the window. "Darn it's raining and I left my umbrella in the car."

Since they had walked over to the Diner, Aubrey didn't have one either. "I guess we'll have to wait until it stops." That was fine with him. He enjoyed lunches with Jessica, longer ones were even better."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.


	9. Chapter 9

(Season 11)

A/N: I posted Chapter 8 last Thursday, but FFN did not sent out any emails to anyone to let them know. If you missed it, make sure you go back and read it before you read chapter 9.

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Friday afternoon and Angela heard an alarm on her computer. Someone had filed a missing person's report for Andrew Arsenault, citizen of Canada and it seemed to match the parameters she had used in her search. Hoping that this might be the one she was waiting for, Angela checked the personal information that Brennan had been able to provide for their wood chipper victim and compared it to the personal information provided in the missing person's report. A lot of the details seemed to match perfectly and Angela decided to inform Brennan and Cam.

Entering Brennan's office, Angela found her friend sleeping on the couch. Not willing to disturb her, she left immediately and sought out Cam instead. Cam was in her office going over her projected budget for the next fiscal year when Angela entered the room. "Cam I think I may know who the wood chipper victim is."

Pleased to hear that tidbit of news, Cam save and closed her file then turned her chair to face Angela. "Good, who is he?"

"Well, we don't have a head or hands or even a complete upper torso, but I think it may be Andrew Arsenault. He's a citizen of Canada." Angela checked the tablet in her hand and nodded her head. "He was reported missing by his father two days ago to Metro Police. Richard Arsenault also informed the Canadian Embassy too. I sent you a copy of the missing person's report. Since the body was found behind the Canadian Embassy . . . well, I think it's a possibility. I think we should get a sample of DNA from Richard Arsenault to see if he and our victim are related."

"Is he here in town or in Canada?" Cam jotted down some notes on a pad next to her PC.

Angela smiled. "We're in luck. Richard Arsenault is staying at his son's apartment right now. He left the address and a phone number when he filed the report."

Checking the email, Cam noted the pertinent information. "I'll forward this to Booth and see if he can get the DNA. Did you tell Brennan? She might want to go with him."

A quick glance at the doorway and Angela shook her head. "Brennan is sleeping in her office. I didn't have the heart to wake her. She only got about three hours of sleep last night. She told me that she had a nightmare that wouldn't allow her to go back to sleep."

Cam had seen Brennan earlier that morning and she had recognized that Brennan was overly tired. She had tried to encourage the anthropologist to go home, but Brennan had insisted that it wouldn't be necessary. Now she realized that she should have insisted. "Don't wake her. I'll have Booth come by and pick up Ms. Warren. She can get the DNA sample just as easily as Brennan."

Ooooooooooooooo

Alerted that he had an email, Booth found that Cam had forwarded him a missing person's report for Andrew Arsenault, a citizen of Charlesbourg, Canada, a small town north of Quebec City. Grateful to finally have a possible lead, Booth called Aubrey to let him know he was going to leave in a few minutes to interview Richard Arsenault. "I'm going to ask him for a sample of his DNA to see if he's related to our wood chipper victim."

 _You're going to do a DNA test?_

"What am I? A squint?" Booth rummaged in his desk drawer for a pack of gum. "I'm going to go by the Lab and pick up the red-haired squint, Jessica and she's going to do the swab. Bones isn't available right now."

 _Hey want me to go do the interview? I'm not really working on anything right now._

"Trying to take my case from me?" His hand finally latched on to a pack of gum in the back of the drawer and pulled it out.

 _No of course not. I just know you've got a mountain of paper work on your desk and I thought I could get the ball rolling. Hell our victim may not even be connected to this Richard Arsenault. If he isn't then you won't have wasted your time._

Well aware that Aubrey probably wanted to be alone with the red-haired intern, Booth smiled as he opened his pack of gum. "Okay, go ahead. Just keep me in the loop and let me know if we've found out the identity of our victim."

 _Will do._

The call ended, Booth folded a slice of gum, popped it into his mouth and flipped open the file on top of the stack sitting on his desk. _If Bones is still sleeping like Cam says she is then that means she really is tired. I should have talked her into staying home damn it._

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

The interview with Richard Arsenault went about as well as Aubrey had expected. At first the man had refused to believe that there was a possibility that his son was dead. He thought for sure that the FBI had made a mistake. Aubrey was careful to explain that they didn't know for certain if the man's son was dead or not. They had found a body a few days ago behind the Canadian Embassy and they wanted a sample of DNA from Richard to run tests and see if it was possible that the victim was Andrew Arsenault. Of course if Andrew had a hairbrush available then they wouldn't need anything from Richard. They could use whatever hair was in the brush for the tests.

Richard had realized that he had to cooperate with Aubrey if he wanted to make sure that the victim they were investigating was his son or not. After he retrieved his son's hair brush from the bathroom as well as his toothbrush, he handed them to the young woman accompanying the agent and watched her place them in a plastic bag. "Could you tell me how he died . . . the man found behind the Embassy? Could I see him? I might be able to tell you if it's my son."

As stoically as he could, Aubrey solemnly shook his head. "I'm sorry Sir. The victim was found in the woods and well, you wouldn't be able to tell if it was your son by looking at him. I think it would be best if we did the DNA test and then we can tell you for sure if it's Andrew or not."

Although he was horrified at the thought that the dead man might be his son, he was even more horrified that if he was, there was a possibility that any plans for a funeral would involve a closed casket. He prayed that the victim that Agent Aubrey was investigating wasn't his son. His family would have a hard time accepting their boy's body was destroyed or badly damaged. Andrew had been a beautiful baby and a handsome young man. It just didn't seem fair that his son might be dead. He was so damn young. "Alright, I'll accept that for now. Can you tell me when you'll know for sure if it is Andrew?"

Jessica placed the plastic bag in an evidence bag and turned her attention towards Richard. "Sir, it usually takes a few days, but we will start the process as soon as I return to the Jeffersonian."

"Alright, just call me when you know for sure." Richard felt like he was trapped in a nightmare. His youngest boy might be dead and he didn't know how he was going to explain it to his wife and kids. Andrew had been the baby of the family and everyone had adored him.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

On the way back to the Lab, Aubrey swung by a Starbucks and bought Jessica and himself a large coffee. He had been tempted to buy a snack, but passed on that idea. They were going to go out in a few hours for dinner and a movie marathon and he didn't want to spoil his appetite.

Handing one of the coffees to Jessica, Aubrey smiled and sipped from his coffee cup. "I found out when the barbecue is. Booth says you can come any time after one. We're probably going to eat around three or four. I guess there's going to be a little socializing while Booth grills. He said he's going to set up a badminton net and he's got a wading pool for Christine and Hank. Booth said the adults usually play cards, stuff like that. If you want to come later you can if you think you'll be bored."

"Why would I be bored?" Jessica took a sip of her coffee and placed the cup in a cup holder. "It sounds like fun. Of course I'll be there at one. I play a mean game of badminton, so you better bring your A game, Superman."

"Well bring it on." Aubrey had only played the game as a child with his mother, but he was sure he was good enough to beat his friend.

Challenged, Jessica stared at her friend with hooded eyes. "I'm very competitive. Don't be surprised when I defeat you on the field of battle."

A sly smirk on his face, Aubrey started his truck. "I won't be. Just you don't be surprised either. When I play I play to win."

Ooooooooooooooooo

At five that evening, Booth arrived at the Lab and found Brennan sitting behind her desk, checking her emails. She looked rested and Booth was relieved. "Hey Bones lets go. Max picked up the kids, so we're free to go home and maybe have an early night. I think we could both use more sleep and we should take advantage of having the house to ourselves. Aubrey says he'll probably be home around two in the morning. That science fiction thing he's going to isn't going to let out until about one or so."

Though she had meant to take a short nap after she had eaten her soup, she had slept for three hours. It had helped her get though the last two hours, but she agreed with her husband. Extra sleep would be good for both of them. "That sounds like an excellent idea, Booth. Let's pick up some Chinese food on the way home, so we don't have to cook."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Booth yawned. "Damn . . . okay let's go." Booth watched his wife remove her lab coat and retrieve her purse from her desk. "Cam said we'll know if our wood chipper victim is Andrew Arsenault by Monday. If it is at least I have somewhere to start my investigation."

Brennan walked over to where Booth was standing and linked her arm with his. "Yes Ms. Warren told me after I awoke from my nap. She plans to come to our barbecue Sunday. Aubrey invited her."

Chuckling, Booth nodded his head. "Yeah, those two are just friends."

"Well, of course they are." Brennan thought Booth was stating the obvious. "They spend a lot of recreational time together."

Moving out of the office and down the hallway towards the exit, Booth decided to remain silent. He was too tired for bickering or lectures. He just wanted to go home, eat a little pepper steak and go to bed. It wasn't how he had originally planned to spend date night, but sometimes you just have to recharge your batteries, especially when you have two small children and extra free time was rare.

Oooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.


	10. Chapter 10

(Season 11)

A/N: I seem to be writing about a lot of food in this story. I wonder why.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Saturday turned out to be a busy day in the B&B household. Brennan believed in doing as much prep work as possible when it came to barbecues and parties, so once the weekly grocery shopping was done and lunch was eaten, Christine and Hank were given permission to watch 'Finding Dory' while she, Booth and Aubrey started working on the food that they intended to serve at the barbecue. Brennan and Booth had originally planned to do all the work, but Aubrey insisted on helping.

Booth seasoned the brisket he planned to grill, wrapped it in plastic wrap and popped it into the fridge. After that, he grabbed the ground chuck and made numerous patties which he placed in a plastic container. Brennan wasn't crazy about her family eating hamburger meat since it tended to be a fatty meat, but Booth used a lean chuck roast that he had the butcher grind for him including just a small amount of fat.

While Booth was getting the meat ready for Sunday, Brennan and Aubrey worked on potato salad and coleslaw. Brennan also intended to serve a salad of mixed greens and she had Aubrey slice vegetables that could be skewered so that Booth could grill them.

Everyone busy with their tasks, Brennan glanced at Aubrey and then back at the potato she was peeling. "Aubrey, did you invite Ms. Warren to the festivities tomorrow?"

Expertly slicing up a zucchini, Aubrey kept his eyes on the knife in his hand. "Sure, she's coming about one or so."

"Good." Brennan glanced at Booth who was still busy making patties. "I admire your friendship with Ms. Warren. She's very bright and very enthusiastic about everything that seems to interest her. She is an excellent intern and I believe she should be able to complete her doctorate in the next three years. Of course that will depend upon how hard she is willing to work to get the degree."

It seemed to Aubrey that Brennan and Booth were too interested in his and Jessica's relationship, but he wasn't sure how he could dampen their enthusiasm without insulting them. "Yeah, she's pretty smart and she's grateful that she was accepted as your intern . . . We're pretty good friends. We like science fiction movies and we both like video games . . . I never had a friend like her. It's nice to have a lot in common with someone."

Booth glanced at Brennan and caught her looking at him. A smile and a wink and Booth turned back to work on his patties. "Yeah, Bones and I don't really have a lot of stuff in common, but we found out that opposites really do attract. Together we're pretty formidable. We make a great team at work and at home."

"We do." Brennan thought that Aubrey should try to strengthen his friendship with Jessica since they had so much in common, but she knew it wasn't her life to live. She and Booth had made a lot of mistakes and had found it hard to come together out of fear of ruining their friendship, but in the end they had taken that final step towards each other and Brennan new that they were both happier because of it. She wanted Aubrey to be happy with someone he really liked, but she was sure that she and Booth shouldn't push too hard. In the past their well-meaning friends had tried to get them to see that they were more than just partners and friends, but both Booth and Brennan had pushed back. Perhaps they had done it out of stubbornness or fear that their friends were gravely mistaken. Either way, she didn't want Aubrey to resent them for their interest in his life. "Booth and I are not trying to force you into a relationship with Ms. Warren, Aubrey. We just think that you should consider all of your options when contemplating your future."

Booth turned to frown at Brennan. He thought that they were matchmaking, but Brennan had just said they weren't. He definitely needed to talk to her in private and make sure they were both on the same page.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

That evening, after everyone was in their bedrooms either sleeping for getting ready to sleep, Booth confronted Brennan about Aubrey. "Hey, I thought we were trying to get Aubrey to see that Jessica might be the partner he needs in his life. They're really good friends and we both know that's a good start."

"I know, but I've been thinking about how we reacted when all of our friends insisted that we were more than just partners. They insisted for years that we were in love and you will remember that we both insisted that we weren't . . . even when we knew we were . . ."

"Um, yeah." Booth thought about all that wasted time when they could have been together and the thought of those missed opportunities made him sad. "Yeah, you're right . . . we were so scared . . . We loved our friendship so much we were afraid to ruin it." Booth moved closer to where Brennan was standing and placed his arms around her. "So much wasted time." He kissed her and smiled when she prolonged the kiss. Satisfied for the moment, they parted lips, but continued to hold each other. "I don't know what we could have done to speed up the process though. You weren't ready when I was then I wasn't ready when you were. What a mess."

Staring lovingly into his warm brown eyes, Brennan shook her head. "Fear can be very crippling. We were both strong and independent, but we were filled with fear about losing each other. And in my case, it was more than just fear . . . I just didn't think I had the heart you needed in a mate. You rely upon your feelings much more than I do . . . we just didn't seem compatible as mates at least until after we came back from Afghanistan and Maluku and I thought it was too late."

Booth didn't want to talk about that time in their lives. They had talked about it many times trying to figure out why they had behaved the way they had and it always boiled down to both of them having a very bad childhood, betrayed by their parents and fearful that they would lose someone they really loved. "I was a mess, Bones . . . We can't undo the past. We have to live in the present."

She pecked his lips and nodded her head. "You're right of course and we have talked about this subject numerous times. I think dragging up the past will just make us sad . . . As for Aubrey, let's let him decide his own fate. I fear if we push him towards Ms. Warren he'll run in the opposite direction."

Booth saw the wisdom in her words and had to agree. "Yeah, I guess you're right . . . still Aubrey is a lonely guy and I'd like to see him find someone to be in his corner when the going gets rough like you do for me."

"And like you do for me." Brennan kissed him gently and released him. She wanted to get ready for bed and she was starting to feel amorous. "Make sure the curtains are pulled across the wall."

Her instructions a signal that Booth took very seriously, Booth moved over to the glass wall, took a look at the kitchen and noticed Aubrey rummaging around in the fridge. Pulling the curtains together Booth turned to face his wife who was removing her blouse. "I don't get how he can eat so much and be that skinny."

Not really interested in Aubrey's metabolism at the moment, Brennan shimmed out of her slacks. "I think you're wearing too many clothes."

Hurriedly pulling his t-shirt off, Booth threw it on the floor, unbuttoned his jeans and quickly unzipped them. "Easily taken care of Bones. Not a problem."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

A/N: okay this chapter was going to be the barbecue, but this happened instead. I promise the barbecue is next. Please review my story and let me know if you're still interested in it. Thank you.


	11. Chapter 11

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I really appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooo

Cam and Michelle arrived early the day of the barbeque. They had made a cake and two pies the previous day and they wanted to help Brennan and Booth prepare for their guests. Taking the two peach pies from Michelle, Booth sniffed them and grinned. "These look great, Michelle."

"Thanks, Booth." Michelle was learning to bake and she was proud of her accomplishments. "Cam showed me her mother's recipe. I can't wait to make a cherry pie when cherries come into season."

Aubrey was in the kitchen helping Brennan make salad dressing for the mixed greens. "Cherry pie . . . God I love cherry pie."

Wary of Aubrey's appetite, Booth gave the man a wide berth and placed the pies on the counter on the other side of Brennan. "These pies are for everyone Aubrey."

Affronted at the thought that he might be considered inconsiderate, Aubrey turned to face Booth and rolled his shoulders. "I do have self-control Booth. I'm not an eating machine."

About to come back with a snarky comment, Booth felt his sides being poked by Brennan's elbow. Turning to face her, Booth saw her roll her eyes and he laughed. Aubrey missed the eye roll so wasn't sure why Booth was laughing, but Cam had caught it and held her hand over her mouth to hide her quiet laugh. Cam had learned over the years that Brennan had a sense of humor, but most of the time it involved puns or a subtle play on words. In this case, the eye roll was a blatant effort to make Booth laugh and Cam thought it was very amusing.

After she placed the cake on the counter, Cam opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water. "Booth do you need me to help you set up the barbecue?"

"Nah, I've already got two briskets on the grill and the other stuff can wait until more company arrives." Booth noticed Christine waving her hand at him in the living room and left the kitchen to see what she wanted. "What's up, Honey?"

Christine pointed at Hank who was wearing bright purple swim trunks and then at herself. "We're ready to go swimming Daddy."

Inspecting Hank's diaper under the swim trunks he noticed that they were the swimwear brand Brennan had bought on Saturday. "Okay, the pool is filled and the sun should have warmed up the water by now." After he picked up Hank, Booth took Christine's hand in his hand and moved slowly towards the door leading out to the backyard.

Since there was nothing else for him to do, Aubrey followed Booth outside. After Booth made sure the pool water was warm, he placed Hank in the small pool and made sure the water didn't go up further than his knees. Christine stepped over the side of the pool and sat down in the water. Once the kids were both sitting in the water, Booth picked up a bag of plastic floating toys and emptied them in to the pool, much to the delight of his children. That accomplished, Booth walked over to his grill and checked his briskets.

Aubrey was admiring the grill and noticed that it also had a warming plate on the side. "Wow this is really a great grill, Booth. Someday I'm going to get me one too."

The brisket cooking to his satisfaction, Booth closed the lid, walked over to one of the patio chairs and sat down, making sure the chair was facing his children and the pool. "It's not my grill."

A sly smile on Aubrey's face, the agent sat down next to Booth and watched Hank walking a plastic boat around the pool while Christine played with a floating basketball hoop and tiny basketball. "So it belongs to Dr. B."

"Nope, the grill belongs to Christine." Booth laughed when Hank dropped the boat he was playing with and plopped down in the water sending a small spray of water upward drenching the boy. Delighted, Hank slapped his hands in the water to make the water splash him again.

Booth's answer wasn't what Aubrey had expected. "What do you mean the grill belongs to Christine? You're yanking my chain aren't you."

"Nope." Booth called out to his daughter congratulating her for getting the basketball to fall into the hoop. "Bones bought a grill for Christine a few years ago and when we decided that it was too small for barbecues, she bought our baby girl a new one . . . this one."

Thoroughly confused, Aubrey frowned at his friend. "I don't understand. Why is she buying grills for your little girl? Christine is too young to use the grill."

Brennan stepped out of the house along with Cam and Michele and carried a bottle of beer over to where Booth was sitting. "Baby girls need grills."

An inside joke that never ceased to make Booth grin, Booth took the bottle from his wife and thanked her. "Yep, baby girls definitely need grills."

Used to Booth and Brennan's secrets, Cam shook her head and sat down on one of the patio chairs. "Never mind Aubrey. Just go with it."

Michelle walked over to where the kids were playing and knelt next to the pool. She picked up a mermaid and raced it towards Hank who squealed and tried to grab the plastic doll. Michelle expertly pulled the doll away in time and then raced the doll back towards the toddler who once more squealed in delight.

Clark appeared from around the side of the house carrying a cooler and called out to the group on the patio. "Hey, you guys you got company."

"Clark, glad you could make it." Booth stood up and showed Clark where to place the cooler. "I'm going to start grilling hamburgers in a bit."

Popping open the cooler, Clark extracted a bottle of beer and closed the lid. "I brought some homemade fudge. It's in a container in this cooler. I thought the kids might like it. It's my mother's recipe."

"Thanks." Booth sat back down and watched Michelle pick up a small plastic bucket and hand it to Hank who filled it water and then poured it out. "Caroline and Wendell are coming soon and so is Jessica. I'm not sure who else is coming since Bones kind of ended up making it an open invitation."

Sitting on the bench near the edge of the patio, Clark enjoyed the deep shade of the oak tree casting a shadow over that part of the patio. "Looks like a good day for a barbecue." After he sipped his beer, Clark leaned back and crossed his legs. "I think Rodolfo is planning on coming. He's bringing something, but he wouldn't tell me what it was."

A noise alerted everyone that someone was coming around the side of the house. Filled with curiosity, everyone turned and witnessed Caroline Julian and her foster sons walking in to sight. "Cher', you picked a lovely day for a barbecue."

"Caroline." Booth stood up and walked towards them meeting them half way to the patio. "Let me help carry the cooler for you."

"We can do it." Marcellus checked to see his brother Keith nod his head and felt more confident that it wasn't too heavy. "Just tell us where to put it down."

Amused that his little brother was telling Agent Booth what to do, Keith shook his head and let Marcellus handle it.

His own amusement just shy of breaking out into laughter, Booth pointed at the two coolers near the grill. "You can put it over there." Turning to smile at Caroline, Booth winked at her and placed his arm around her shoulders. "So what did you bring? Pralines? Some bread pudding? How about some jambalaya."

"Seeley Booth, I said I'd bring pralines and I did. As for what else I brought, well when it gets time to eat, you'll see then." It gave Caroline great pleasure that Booth loved her pralines. She knew that she could count on him to guard the container once she pulled it out of the cooler and not want to share with anyone. That was why she had two containers of the sugary treat. One for Booth and one for everyone else.

A quick hug and Booth released her. "No one makes better pralines that you. It's the best and I mean the best."

Proud of her cooking ability, Caroline shook her head. "Flattery will get you nowhere with me Cher' . . . you will still have to wait."

A slight pout on his lips, Booth patted her shoulder and sighed. "Well, if you insist."

Before she could reply, Rodolfo and Jessica came around the corner of the house carrying a cooler between them.

Jessica had been looking forward to the barbecue and was a little excited to be there. "Dr. Brennan, we made it."

Brennan stood up and turned to face her interns. "You are most welcome Dr. Fuentes and Ms. Warren. Please place your cooler near the other coolers. The shade from the oak tree will help keep them cooler than if they sat in the sun."

Once the cooler was sitting safely with the other coolers. Rodolfo picked up the lid of the grill and shook his head. "Two briskets . . . wow."

Not sure if Dr. Cuba was making fun of him, Booth moved over to where the grill was and pulled the lid back down. "The lid has to stay down for the meat to cook. I'm going to also be cooking hamburgers and hot dogs along with something tofu for Bones and some vegetable skewers."

Impressed with the display of so much food, Rodolfo smiled and shook his head. "In my country this could feed everyone in my apartment building and we'd have enough left over to eat for days."

"Well this isn't Cuba." Booth was certain that Rodolfo was slamming him, but he couldn't prove it and frankly he didn't really care that much. "No one is coming to my barbecue and leaving hungry."

Rodolfo knew that it was dangerous to poke a bear in its den and he decided to walk away. "That's good."

Jessica walked over to where the badminton net was set up, picked up a racquet and a shuttlecock and called out to Aubrey. "Aubrey are you ready to lose at badminton?"

His gaze had been following Jessica since she arrived and with her challenge, he rushed over to the net, picked up a racquet and grinned. "Prepare to lose your butt, Jess."

Eager to work off a little energy, Clark stood up and moved over to where the couple was standing. "Mind if I play too?"

He'd wanted to play singles, but Aubrey didn't want to be rude either. "Well, it's awkward for two play to play against one."

Rodolfo jogged over to where the threesome was and picked up a racquet. "Jessica and I will play you and Dr. Edison."

His plans collapsing before his eyes, Aubrey sighed and nodded his head. "Okay, but I still want to play you alone Jess sometime today."

"You got it." Jessica walked over to the other side of the net and waited for Rodolfo to join her. "We'll beat you and Dr. Edison and then later, when we play singles I'm going to beat your butt shiny."

Sensing something competitive going on, Marcellus moved over to the net and stood on the sidelines. "Need a judge?"

Eager to begin the contest, Rodolfo waved his racquet at the young man. "Yes, you may judge the contest."

Having lost complete control of the game, Aubrey trudged over to the position he planned to play, caught Jessica grinning at him and smiled. "Prepare to go down, Ms. Warren."

A quick flash of her teeth, Jessica tossed her hair and prepared for battle. "The only one going down is you. Prepare to eat that bird, Agent Aubrey, feathers and all."

Brennan moved over to where Booth was now sitting and squatted down next to him. "Are they garbage talking?"

"Trash talking." Booth smiled at Brennan and then turned his attention back to the game as it started. "There is definitely some trash talking going on here, Bones."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

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	12. Chapter 12

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

After four intense matches of badminton, the score was tied two to two, but the late lunch was being laid out on the small table near the picnic table and Aubrey's growling stomach was insisting that it was starving. Escorting Jessica over to the picnic table, Aubrey saw what looked like an opened container of pralines sitting on the smaller table, near a small pot of jambalaya and a cake pan filled with bread pudding. Salivating, he quickly made a beeline for the candy.

Caroline had just laid out the items she had brought on the table and before Aubrey could get to the table, she handed a container of the sugary pecans to Booth. "Here Cher'."

Eager to taste them, Booth took the box of candy from the prosecutor, picked out one of the decadent confections and shoved the whole thing in his mouth, letting the brown sugar flavored treat melt in his mouth before he started to chew the pecans.

Eager for a praline, Aubrey reached for the box Booth was holding, but much to his frustration, Booth held the box up over his head and shook his head.

"What you're not going to share with me?"

With a slow shake of his head, Booth grabbed the lid for the container, turned on his heels and walked over to the back door, his intention to hide his candy in the house so only he knew where it was.

A little shocked at Booth's selfishness, Aubrey placed his hands on his hips. "What the hell, I can't believe he won't let me have one."

Amused, Caroline laughed, picked up the second box of pralines, opened it and held the box out for Aubrey to see. "Take one, Cher'. These are for everyone else. Booth loves pralines and he will not share the box I gave him under any circumstances. That's why I made two batches."

Grateful for her generosity, Aubrey pulled out three pralines, saw the disdainful look on Caroline's face and put one of them back in the box. "Thanks."

Jessica had witnessed the pralines incident and rolled her eyes. "Aubrey, better make a plate of real food before it all disappears. It all looks so good."

Carrying out a jug of lemonade from the house, Brennan placed it on the smaller table, poured a glass and waved her daughter over. "Here's a glass of lemonade, Christine. Carry it over to the table and sit down. I'll make you a plate."

With Hank in a high chair sitting at the end of the table where Brennan planned to sit, Caroline handed the toddler a piece of cornbread muffin and watched the boy grab it and mash it into his mouth. "You know what's good, don't you beb?"

Back from the house, his mission accomplished, Booth checked to make sure that everyone had a plate of food, filled a plate for himself from the bowls and plates on the smaller table near the picnic table and sat down near Christine. Her hamburger a little too big for her to pick up, he used a knife to cut it in half and gave it back to her. Once she placed it on her plate, he crossed himself to say a quick prayer, Christine, Caroline and her foster sons following his lead did the same. Others at the table who were already eating paused and waited for Booth to finish his prayer and then continued to eat.

Jessica had piled a decent amount of brisket, coleslaw, mixed green salad, baked beans, a corn muffin and a spoonful of jambalaya on her plate, but was impressed that Aubrey had loaded his plate with the same things, plus a hot dog in a bun, potato salad, three bean salad and his two pralines were sitting on a napkin next to his plate. "Do you think you have enough?"

Surveying his plate and checking back to see what he could have possibly missed, Aubrey nodded his head and turned back to face his plate again. "Yeah for now. I'll get some cake and pie for dessert, plus maybe some of that fudge Clark brought and maybe some of that Arroz Con Leche that Rodolfo brought after I finish this plate."

Feeling full just watching Aubrey eat, Keith stood up and walked over to the bench where he sat down to eat. His brother soon joining him, the younger lad leaned closer to his brother and whispered to Keith. "How can he eat so much?"

Wisely, Keith whispered back. "Tape worm."

His nose wrinkling in disgust, Marcellus shook his head. "Eww."

Ooooooooooooooooo

The meal over, most everyone sat around talking while they tried to digest their very heavy lunch. Wanting some alone time with Jessica, Aubrey talked her into going into the house with him and playing a video game. Booth's television in the living room was set up for both video games and TV viewing and Aubrey enjoyed playing a little every night before he went to bed.

Eager to best Aubrey in a game or two, Jessica followed Aubrey in to the house and into the living room. Soon they were both sitting on the couch playing 'Star Wars Battlefront', one of Parker's games. Once they were engrossed in the game, caught up in the competitiveness, neither paid attention to the time or any activity around them.

The day getting late, company soon gathered up their coolers and left. They had all had a great time and thanked Booth and Brennan for a wonderful barbecue. Cam and Michele stayed to help bring in the left overs, placed them in storage containers and stored them in the fridge. Before they completed their task, Brennan made them each a plate of food to take home, piling them high while Cam protested.

While that was going on, Booth washed down the two tables outside and left them to dry, his intention to store them in the garage the next day. Next he cleaned Christine's grill and made sure it was ready for the next time he wanted to use it.

Heavily engaged in playing their video game, Aubrey and Jessica weren't aware when Cam and Michele left for home. The game growing intense, Aubrey started to trade trash talk with Jessica who was starting to rack up more points than he was. Highly amused, Jessica verbally returned barb for barb and continued to pull away in points.

Curious, Booth walked into the living room, pulled a bar stool from the bar and sat down behind the couch to watch the couple play. He and Parker played the game when the boy was home, but Booth had never seen anyone rack up the points like they were doing. Brennan decided it was getting late and gave the children their baths. Once they were done, Booth left the living room and read his children a story before they went to sleep while Brennan retired to their bedroom, pulled the curtains across the walls, stripped and walked into the bathroom to soak in the tub.

Still interested in the game, once his children were tucked away in bed, Booth returned to the living room and back to the bar stool.

The game coming to a climax, Aubrey groaned as the game ended with Jessica the clear winner. Excited that she had won, Jessica turned, grabbed Aubrey by the collar of his shirt and kissed him. Both surprised and excited, Aubrey placed his arms around his friend and pulled her closer. The kiss starting to take on a heated life of its own, hands started to roam, fingers started to explore until an explosive cough sounded behind them bringing them back to the real world.

Standing behind them, his arms crossed against his chest, Booth shook his head. "Friends huh?" After he rolled his eyes, Booth walked away leaving behind a spluttering Aubrey and Jessica.

"We're just friends . . . Booth that was just a celebratory kiss." Aubrey's face was hot from embarrassment and it matched the flaming cheeks of Jessica. Quickly standing, the intern moved over to the front door, grabbed her purse from the side table there, grateful she remembered where it was and left. Once she was outside, she remembered she had come to the barbecue with Rodolfo and wondered how she was going to get home. The Cuban intern, who was parked in the driveway near the garage tooted his car horn, leaned over and opened the passenger door.

Surprised that the man hadn't left, Jessica hurried over to where he was parked and entered his car. "Why in the world did you wait for me?"

A sweet smile on his face, Rodolfo pointed at a book sitting on the dash of the car. "It wasn't a problem. It gave me a chance to read the latest book by Dr. Brennan. I've fallen behind in my leisure reading and this gave me a chance to do something that I love to do."

Embarrassed, Jessica felt terrible for Rodolfo feeling obligated to stay no matter if he didn't mind or not. "You should have come and got me."

Starting his car, Rodolfo shook his head. "Nonsense. You were having fun with Agent Aubrey and I was enjoying my book. No one was inconvenienced . . . Now I will take you home and I still have time to get home and watch some of the game on television."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Mortified that Booth had seen his break in decorum, Aubrey sat on the couch, his arms crossed against his chest and tried to think of some way to explain to Booth what had happened. If he didn't come up with something good he knew that Booth was never going to believe that he and Jessica were just friends.

In the meantime, Booth entered his bedroom, closed the door behind him and entered the bathroom where he found his wife soaking in the tub. The sight of her naked voluptuous body made him appreciate that she wasn't rail thin. Brennan had curves with gave him something to hold onto when they made love. "You'll never believe what I just saw."

Curious, Brennan opened her eyes and turned to stare at her husband. "What did you see?"

"Aubrey and Jessica kissing." Booth removed his shirt and tossed it at the clothes hamper. "They were going at it pretty hard. I mean, if I hadn't stopped them they might have done the deed right there on our couch . . . we would have had to buy a new couch and I really like that one."

Amused, Brennan chuckled, "We would not have to replace our couch if Aubrey made love to Jessica there. Why didn't you just leave them alone?"

Stripping his jeans off, Booth tossed them at the clothes hamper too. "Because I didn't want them making a mess on our couch. I think they both forgot where they were. The only one that gets to make love on that couch is us." Removing his socks, Booth moved closer to the tub. "Want company?"

Moving to make room for Booth to get in behind her, Brennan smiled. "Of course."

Quickly shimming out of his boxers, he tossed them and the socks somewhere near the hamper and stepped into the tub. "You know Bones. Aubrey is so full of shit. Friends my ass."

"Booth stop talking about Aubrey." Brennan leaned back against her husband's chest. "It isn't very romantic."

Oooooooooooooooooo

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	13. Chapter 13

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I really do appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Aubrey spent a restless night fuming about his situation. If Booth had just let him explain he could have cleared up the misunderstanding about the kiss with Jessica, but the man had left the room and Jessica had left shortly afterward. Unable to sleep, he got up earlier that he normally did hoping to catch Booth before the rest of the family was up, but Booth apparently slept like a baby that night and didn't get up early. _The inconsiderate bastard._

Restless and very hungry, Aubrey decided to cook breakfast for everyone and started working on French toast. While the coffee brewed, he prepped his French toast and started cooking bacon as well.

The delectable smell of frying bacon aroused Booth from his sleep and forced him awake before he was ready. Checking the clock, he noticed that he still had thirty minutes before he needed to get up. Debating whether or not to actually get out of bed the decision was taken from him when his phone rang. Quickly grabbing his phone from the nightstand, he answered it and listened while he was told about a body found at Battery Kemble Park. A woman practicing cross country training had discovered the body and reported it. Once he ended the call, Booth placed the phone on the nightstand, rolled over and placed his arms around his wife who was lying on her side facing the wall. "You heard?"

"No. I'm sleeping." Brennan didn't mind getting up for cases, but she was comfortable and Booth's arms around her made her realize the she'd like to ignore the call even if she knew that was impossible. "Let's be hookers today."

Startled, Booth released his wife and raised up on one elbow so he could see at least part of her face. "Pardon me?"

Amused, Brennan chuckled. "Let's play hooky. I had you worried there for a minute didn't I?"

Moving slowly, Booth pulled on Brennan's shoulder until she was lying in her back. Straddling her, he looked down at her twinkling blue eyes and leaned forward to kiss her. Before their lips touched, Brennan's phone rang and Booth knew that their day was officially started which meant he had to get out of bed. After he moved away from her to allow her to get to her phone, Booth sat on the edge of the bed stretching his feet and dreading the first step of the day. Listening to Brennan's half of the conversation, Booth knew she had been informed about the body at Battery Kemble Park.

Once he was out of bed, Booth hurried into the bathroom to take a quick shower while Brennan called Jessica to make sure she was ready to be picked up at her apartment. Brennan was going to the Lab as soon as she dropped her children off at school and day care, so Jessica would be working with Cam at the crime scene. After Booth left the bathroom to get dressed, Brennan took his place in the shower and efficiently cleaned her body as quickly as possible.

Once he was ready, Booth moved down the hallway and woke up Christine. Since it was earlier than normal, she wasn't thrilled to get out of bed, but she did so when Booth insisted. While she ran to the bathroom, Booth entered Hank's room and woke the toddler. Cranky, the boy cried which made the task of getting him ready for the day harder for Booth.

While the family was waking and getting ready for the day, Aubrey's phone rang and he was told of the body at the park. Disappointed that he wasn't going to get a hot breakfast, he placed the eight pieces of French toast already made onto a plate with the nine pieces of bacon. Before he placed the plate on the counter, he picked up four of the pieces of bacon and stuffed them into his mouth two at a time while he proceeded to clean up the mess he'd made so far.

When he spied Brennan enter the kitchen, Aubrey pointed at the plate and smiled. "I did make some breakfast for the kids." Placing the bowl and two pans that he'd used to cook with in the dishwasher, he opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

Booth soon entered the room and placed a sniffling Hank in his high chair while Christine climbed onto the bar stool. Brennan placed two pieces of the French toast on a plate along with two pieces of bacon for Christine and one piece of toast on a plate for Hank, carefully tearing it into very small pieces. Booth grabbed the remaining bacon and placed it between two slices of French toast to make a breakfast sandwich. "Thanks Aubrey. Cam called and she told me that she can't pick up Jessica, so I'll swing by and pick her up on the way to the crime scene."

"No." Aubrey interrupted Booth and smiled. "No that's okay. I'll go get her. She forgot the jacket she'd brought to the barbecue when she left and I want to return it to her."

Pouring a cup of coffee in a travel mug, Booth made sure it was filled to the top. "Go ahead. I'm sure you and your girlfriend have things to say to each other."

"We're just friends." Aubrey saw the look that passed between Booth and Brennan and found their attitude a little condescending. "That kiss last night was just a congratulatory kiss. Friends do kiss you know."

Brennan smiled at Booth while she handed Hank a sippy cup of milk. "Oh we know. Mistletoe kisses and tequila kisses . . . friends are quite capable of kissing and enjoying it."

Amused, Booth moved over to where Brennan was standing, leaned over and kissed her. "Yeah steam boat kisses are pretty damn hot."

Before Aubrey could say anything, Booth turned to face him. "I'm on the way to the crime scene. I'll meet you there." As he left the room and walked towards the door, Brennan called out to him. "Make sure the techs don't start collecting evidence before pictures are taken of the crime scene. Angela was quite angry when someone broke protocol the last time."

"I remember and I will make sure procedure's are followed." Booth left the house with Aubrey following on his heels. Aubrey needed to talk to Jessica before their day started and driving her to the crime scene was a perfect time to do it.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Jessica was surprised to see Aubrey pull up in front of her apartment. Once she was in his SUV, she buckled up her seatbelt and turned slightly to face him. "I thought Cam was picking me up."

Aubrey shrugged his shoulders and pulled out of the driveway. "Booth said Cam couldn't come and get you, so I volunteered. I brought your jacket. It's on the back seat. You forgot it last night."

Her cheeks felt warm as Jessica remembered the after victory kiss they had shared. "About that kiss . . . I just got carried away. You know, it was just the fact that I beat you and . . . and I got a little excited."

Not sure how to proceed, Aubrey drove several miles before he finally responded. His eyes on the road ahead, Aubrey nodded his head. "Yeah, I figured, but Booth thinks we're more than friends now. He can be such a kid . . . I told him friends kiss and Brennan agreed with me. In fact, they both kind of hinted around that there might have been some hot kissing going on between them when they were just friends, before they got together."

Intrigued, Jessica stared at the side of Aubrey's face. "Really? That's interesting."

"You think so?" Aubrey glanced at Jessica and caught the smirk on her face before he turned to look back at the road. "I mean, kissing is . . . you don't have to be having a relationship with someone to kiss them . . . I mean there isn't a rule or anything and that kiss last night was pretty good . . ."

"It was damn good." Jessica interrupted her friend. A far as she was concerned that kiss had been spectacular. "I'm a damn good kisser just in case you didn't figure that out last night."

Aubrey still felt the shadow of her lips on his lips it had been so damn good. "Oh, I agree Ms. Warren. I practically melted it was so damn good . . . You know in the future . . . if you want to celebrate a victory and I'm around . . . kissing would be a good way to do that . . . you know if you're inclined or you know . . ."

Jessica sighed and leaned back against the seat thinking about just how aroused she'd been kissing her friend. "Um, yeah, thanks." A few miles went by and Jessica finally turned to face Aubrey again. "Are we friends or . . . something else?"

Hesitating, Aubrey gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white. "I don't know . . . like what exactly?"

Afraid to answer, Jessica quickly pointed ahead. "Look there's Booth's truck and there's Cam's van."

Feeling like he'd just been reprieved, Aubrey nodded his head. "We made good time. Really good time." Pulling up behind Booth's SUV, Aubrey stopped his truck and removed the key from the ignition. "Maybe we should talk . . . not right now though, but soon."

Jessica was in full agreement. She just wasn't sure what they were going to talk about. "Sure."

Once they were out of the truck they quickly moved over to the crime scene. What Aubrey found was a little shocking. A man lay on the ground with the top of his head blown off. A nearby shotgun told the story. _Damn, maybe I should have skipped the bacon this morning._

 _Ooooooooooooooooooo_

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	14. Chapter 14

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I really appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Back from the crime scene, Booth logged onto his PC and found an email from Brennan. The DNA test had come back and it was confirmed that Andrew Arsenault was the wood chipper victim after all. After he made a phone call to Richard Arsenault and asked him to come down to the Hoover, Booth checked the rest of his email.

Aubrey had also done a quick check of his email once he was in his office, answered several and logged off his computer. Thirsty, he grabbed his mug and carried it down the hallway to the breakroom where he filled the mug with coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon. The snack machine recently refilled, so he bought two candy bars and a bag of Doritos. His pockets now filled with snacks he made his way to Booth's office and entered the room while Booth continued to stare at his monitor. "Um, I'd like to talk to you."

"I called Richard Arsenault and he'll be in later this morning." Booth had assumed that Aubrey still wanted to work the Arsenault case. "I'd rather you handle the new case from this morning and I'll handle the Arsenault case."

Work hadn't been on his mind, but Aubrey forced his mind to take in what Booth had said. "Yeah, sure . . . um, look that kiss last night . . ."

"Aubrey, look I know I've been giving you a hard time, but this really isn't any of my business." Booth regretted giving his friend a hard time and he had vowed to himself to bow out of it. "Bones was doing a little match making with you and Jessica and I went along with it because we both want you to be happy like we are, but we aren't trying to push you into anything either. You have to make up your own mine about what you want to do. If you're just friends with Jessica then great. Hey, me and Bones have been friends for a long time. We were friends a hell of a long time before we finally decided we wanted more."

Surprised with Booth's little speech, Aubrey placed his mug of coffee down on the front of Booth's desk and leaned back against the chair. "Thanks Booth, I appreciate it . . . look, I don't know what I want. How did you and Brennan know it was time to give a relationship a try? I mean weren't you worried that you might lose your best friend if something went wrong?"

Booth could see that Aubrey was anxious and he knew that it was time to get serious about the situation. "Of course Bones and I were a little afraid, but we had six years of friendship behind us and we knew . . . we really knew that no matter what happened we were always going to be friends. The thing is, our friendship is the glue that keeps us together. We've been through some incredible shit, shit that would have normally torn couples apart, but we're more than just a couple. We're friends first and we know that we can rely on each other no matter what happens. We know each other's ticks and when we're having some issues we know what to do to fix it or at least how to start to fix it. That six years of friendship helped us set up a solid partnership and it just made our relationship stronger. Bones has been my best friend for a long time and I know for a fact that she's in my corner and I'm in hers no matter what happens."

"Yeah I can see that, but Jessica and I don't have those years like you do." Aubrey was very uncertain what he should do. He thought it would be great to have a relationship with Jessica, but then he started to think about all the ways that things could go wrong and how those problems could end his friendship with Jessica. He didn't have any family left in his life and few friends. He didn't want to give up his friendship with Jessica if he could avoid it, but he wanted more at the same time. "What a mess. If I ask her to have a relationship with me and it all goes wrong . . . "

Not sure what else he could say to his friend, Booth leaned back against his chair. "Life is risk. Let me tell you a little story . . . When Bones and I were in the fifth year of our partnership, I tried to push her into a personal relationship with me. She wasn't ready and . . . well, it kind of went bad for a little bit. She took off for a dig in the Maluku islands and because I didn't want to be here by myself, I volunteered for a tour in Afghanistan. Basically, I scared the shit out of Bones and she ran and I ran. It was just a big mess . . . well, when we came back I had a new girlfriend because I thought that was the answer to my problem. It wasn't, but I'm human and I make mistakes. Bones and I had some work to do to put our friendship back together, but we did it. It was slow work and I probably didn't help the situation having Hannah living with me. I wanted Bones in my life and I wanted our friendship to be the way it used to be, but I was afraid too. I was afraid that if I . . . if I let myself feel about Bones the way I did before we ran then that would be the end of our friendship. Because I was afraid, I was gruff and impatient with Bones and I didn't know how to fix it, but somehow Bones overlooked my shit and well, it helped me to see that she wasn't going to give up on our friendship and I relaxed. I was in a really messed up situation though. I wanted Bones, but I couldn't have her and at the same time I thought I was in love with Hannah too and . . . well it all went wrong for a while when I asked Hannah to marry me. Bones was there by my side though. That's what I mean when I say our friendship comes first. I was a complete mess after Hannah turned me down and Bones stayed in my corner helping me get through it all. She was my best friend when I needed her the most. That's why I knew when we finally got together that we'd be okay. We'd already been under fire and we came through it fine. I absolutely knew that nothing we did in the future would screw up our friendship and Bones knows that too . . . I don't know what to tell you about Jessica. You're going to have to work that out on your own."

Aubrey was shocked that Booth had given him such personal information and yet he was so glad that he had. "Thanks for talking to me about this . . . I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now, but this talk really helped me. I'd love to have a friendship like you have with Brennan. I really would."

There was nothing else Booth could say to help the situation and he'd surprised himself that he'd actually told Aubrey about his past. Normally he never confided in anyone but Brennan or Cam and there was still things he wouldn't talk to Cam about. "I wish there was something I could do to help you, but as you can see I'm lucky to have what I have. It took time and patience on my side and Bones' side, but we made our relationship work because we treat each other as friends above everything. You and Jessica have to figure out what you want and go from there. I think the key to the whole thing is talk to each other. God knows I know that secrets are the worst thing you can do. Just make up your mind and talk to Jessica . . . That's all I got."

His mind racing through the possibilities, Aubrey grabbed his mug and stood up. "Thanks. That's good advice. I need to make some decisions and I need to talk to Jessica before I do."

After Aubrey was out of the room, Booth shook his head. "I'm glad Bones and me are through all of that shit."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Richard Arsenault was nervous. He had been shown into a conference room on the fourth floor of the Hoover building and was offered a cup of coffee or a Coke, but he'd been too nervous to accept. His stomach had been a clinching mess since Agent Booth had called and he was terrified that the news wasn't good.

Entering the room, Booth was careful to slide the glass door closed behind him. "Mr. Arsenault, I'm Agent Seeley Booth." After they shook hands, Booth sat down and was careful not to wipe his hand on his pants leg. The man sitting across from him was very nervous and his palm had been very damp. "Sir, I have some bad news for you. The identity of the body found behind the Canadian Embassy has been confirmed, the victim is your son . . . I'm sorry for your loss."

Nauseous, Richard swallowed convulsively and tried not to throw up. Booth recognized that the man across from him was feeling sick, stood up, retrieved the trash can from the back of the room and gave it to Richard. "Here . . . take your time. I can get you a Coke or a Sprite if you'd like one."

Jerking his head no, Richard held the waste can in his lap and waited for his stomach to settle down. After a few quiet moments, he placed the can down next to his feet. "Okay . . . what happened to him?"

Booth had dreaded telling the man what had become of his son, but he needed to tell him. "Sir, he was killed in a wood chipper. It looks like he tried to pull a limb or something from the chipper while it was running and it pulled him back in. I'm sure this was an accident, but what I can't figure out is why the police weren't called. Someone wanted to cover up the accident and they dumped the body behind the Canadian Embassy. I don't know if they thought no one would find the body or if they just panicked. I think this whole thing was just a horrible accident."

Calmer than he expected to be, Richard nodded his head. "Andrew has been working for a friend. Tim has a tree service. Andrew met the guy when he moved down here. My boy wanted to get into construction, that was what he did at home, but it's seasonal up there and he thought working further south would mean he could work all year round. He worked construction in the D.C. area, but he needed extra money to help with expenses, it's so expensive to live here . . . You need to talk to Timothy Elmore. I don't know the name of his company . . . When can I take Andrew home?"

He appreciated the help Richard was giving him and Booth knew that was taking a lot of effort on Richard's part. "I need to talk to Mr. Elmore, but I think you can take Andrew home in a day or so. I should know for sure by tomorrow. I'll call you and let you know. Thank you for your help. I can have someone drive you to your son's apartment if you'd like."

Slowly shaking his head, Richard sniffed and felt tears start to slide down his cheeks. "No that's okay. I drove over here . . . I would like to stay here for a bit though. Get my act together."

"Of course." Booth stood up and moved over to the door. "I'll let Agent Parks know that you can stay as long as you like." After he was back in his office, Booth did a search for Timothy Elmore and found out the man had no criminal record. He then did another search and soon found out Tim's business was called 'A Cut Above the Rest'. "Okay Tim, you've got a lot of explaining to do."

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Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.


	15. Chapter 15

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooo

Tim Elmore wasn't too hard to find. Booth found him in front of his small business, tinkering with his truck. As soon as Booth pulled into the parking lot, he noticed the activity near the truck and once he left his SUV, he approached the truck carefully, watching for signs of trouble.

As soon as Tim saw Booth, he knew that Andrew had been found. Wiping his hand on a greasy rag, the tree cutter closed the hood of his truck and waited for Booth to come closer. "You found him?"

Surprised that Tim hadn't tried to pretend innocence in this fiasco, Booth stopped a few feet from him and nodded his head. "Did you want the body found? Why dump Andrew behind the Canadian Embassy? Why not call the police?"

That day never seemed to leave Tim's mind and now that he'd been tracked down, Tim knew he'd be reliving the accident over and over again with strangers. His voice thick with emotion, Tim tried to explain. "I'm just a small business owner. I barely make enough to keep going, but I do. Andrew wanted extra work, but he'd never worked with a wood chipper before. I was really careful to explain how dangerous a machine like that is, but . . . I guess he just . . . forgot." Tim cleared his throat, removed a handkerchief from his front pocket and blew his nose.

Booth understood that Tim was having a hard time talking about what had happened, so tried to give the man some leeway to tell it his way. "What happened?"

Carefully wiping his nose, Tim wadded the handkerchief in his fist and cleared his throat once more. "We were working over near Reston. A home owner had a couple of termite damaged trees he wanted to get rid of on his property . . . It's a woodsy lot and the house sits on five acres . . . We cut the trees down and we were feeding the limbs into the wood chipper to get rid of them. I had a truck set up so the chips collected in the back of the bed of that truck . . . anyway, I had to take a leak so I walked away into the woods for a little privacy and Andrew said he'd keep grinding the limbs up . . . When I came back, I found him . . . I found him . . . oh God."

Booth felt sorry for the man. He'd been in war and he'd seen the terrible ways a man can die. "We think he tried to yank a limb out and it pulled him back in."

Tim nodded his head, swallowing convulsively. After a few moments, he blew his nose once more and continued. "He was dead, parts of him were in my truck . . . Oh my God . . . I didn't know what to do. I never even heard him scream or anything . . . I was afraid I'd be sued by Andrew's parents and I kept thinking I have to call the police, but I didn't. I just . . . I just stopped thinking. I pulled him out of the chipper . . . this is bad . . . I wrapped him up in plastic bags and I took him to the Canadian Embassy because he's Canadian and I thought when they found him they could get him back to his people . . . Of course I wasn't thinking about the cops being called in. Of course they were, but like I said I wasn't thinking at the time. I just . . . I'm sorry. I should have called the police. I haven't done any jobs since it happened. I've just been waiting for someone to come and get me . . . I guess I knew someone would figure it out. I'm really sorry."

The story was tragic, but Booth had expected it. "I'll need you to come down to the Hoover with me. I need you to make a formal statement and after that, you'll probably talk to our federal prosecutor . . . Reston is in Fairfax County, Virginia and the district attorney will have to be notified. It will be up to her if she wants to pursue any charges."

Resigned, Tim nodded his head. "Let me lock up my business and we'll go. I really am sorry."

As he watched Tim lock the front door of his building, Booth knew that Tim was probably not going to face anything serious. He'd made a mistake by not calling the police, but he hadn't killed Andrew and he'd tried to give him back to his people without getting into trouble. _It's always the cover up that gets you into trouble._

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Aubrey was trying to track down some information on the shotgun victim using the driver's license found on the body. Until the squints at the Jeffersonian confirmed the identity of the victim, Aubrey decided to do some old fashioned detective work. So far he had found out that the man, Taylor Guidry had a record for armed robbery of a grocery store, assault and shop lifting and he was known to hang out with a dangerous gang in the District, although his father said his son didn't belong to a gang.

Since there had been no fingerprints found on the shotgun and it was lying on the ground three feet from the body, everyone involved with the case assumed it was a case of murder. Aubrey was trying to track down the best friend of Taylor when he received a phone call.

 _Hi, I was wondering if you'd like to go to lunch with me._

"Jessica, yeah sure." Aubrey knew they needed to talk and this was as good a time as any. "I'm still waiting for confirmation that the victim is really Taylor Guidry, so I'll meet you at the diner or do you want to meet somewhere else?"

 _The diner is fine. Meet me you there in twenty minutes._

"Yeah, sure. See you then." The call ended. Aubrey stood up, checked to make sure he didn't need to make a quick trip to an ATM and decided that he had enough money for lunch. Moving out of his office, he let Agent Adams know where he'd be and moved down the hallway to the elevator. _Okay, this is it. It's time for the talk. The talk, yeah._

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She was waiting for him, sitting at the last table in the back of the diner. Adjusting his tie, Aubrey felt nervous and on edge as he walked down the aisle towards their table. He prayed that this conversation turned out well, but if it didn't then at least he could say he'd tried. Sitting down across from Jessica, Aubrey was quickly approached by a waitress and asked for his order. He knew it was lunch time and the diner owner liked his customers to order quickly and not hog their table when they were done eating. Most of the time Frankie didn't care if someone camped out at a table as long as they ordered something to eat and drink, but lunch time was the exception and Frankie's regulars knew it. Once his order was complete, Aubrey clasped his hands on the table in front of him and cleared his throat.

"I think we should try dating." Jessica blurted out what had been on her mind since they had kissed Sunday night. "I mean we already hang out with each other on the weekends and everyone assumes we're dating anyway. This way we can get to know each other better . . . what do you think?"

Not really surprised that Jessica was forcing the issue, Aubrey smiled. "You took the words right out of my mouth . . . um, you know that we can be friends and date. Booth told me that he and Brennan were friends for six years before they took the plunge and moved into a relationship. Booth says that the key to their successful relationship is the fact they are friends first. Of course, they kind of confuse me because they say they were just friends for the six years, but then they mention different kisses they'd done while friends and . . . those two are weird if you ask me. I mean I really like them and I consider them my friends, but they are definitely odd ducks when it comes to their relationship."

Not sure what to say about that last statement, Jessica shrugged her shoulders. "I try to never take anyone at face value. Dr. B is very private about her life away from the lab and Hodgins says that Agent Booth is even worse. I'd say he must consider you a good friend if Agent Booth is talking to you about his relationship with Dr. B."

Thinking it over, Aubrey nodded his head. "Yeah, I think you're right." Julie chose that minute to deliver their orders to their table. Once plates and glasses were set in front of them, Aubrey picked up a fork and speared some butter covered broccoli. "What I was trying to get at is, um . . . well, just because we're dating, you know we can still be friends. I mean being friends with you is wonderful Jess. It's fun, I think we have fun and we have so much in common."

"I agree." Jessica picked up her pulled pork poboy and took a bite. Slowly chewing, Jessica noticed that Aubrey kept jabbing his Salisbury steak, but wasn't eating. After she swallowed, she placed her sandwich down and stared at her boyfriend. "We don't have to date if you don't want to."

Startled, Aubrey looked up and shook his head. "No, of course we don't have to do anything, but I want to if you want to . . . if this turns out badly, if . . . if we find out that this a mistake we can still be friends can't we?"

She saw that Aubrey was worried and to be honest with herself, she was worried to. "I think we can, but you aren't planning on this failing are you? You should be more optimistic. We have a lot in common and that's a great start in any relationship."

"Yeah, you're right." Aubrey sighed. "I really like you Jess, I really do and I think dating will be a lot of fun. I just don't what you to feel pressured to be different or act different. This is just us deepening our friendship. It's just a step and I don't want you to worry about it and if you feel that you can't do this then . . ."

Jessica leaned over and grabbed Aubrey's free hand. "Stop it Superman. Just stop it. You're putting too much pressure on yourself and me. Let's go on a few dates and then we'll see if we have anything to worry about. Right now I think we're fine and you should too."

Gripping her hand, Aubrey smiled. "Hey, you know what? We are fine, we're just us and we're going to be fine."

"Yes we are." Jessica still knew Aubrey was worried, but she couldn't really help him with that. She had assured him and felt once the newness of their dating was over they'd both be fine. "Hey, a new pizza house is opening up down the street from my apartment this weekend. We should try it."

"Okay." Aubrey picked up his fork and cut into his steak. "And maybe we can do a rematch too . . . not at Booth's and Brennan's place though. I'll bring that game we were playing over to your place and we can play there. That way we can celebrate our victories without an audience."

Jessica giggled. "Sounds good. I think Agent Booth was worried that we were going to do more than kiss on his couch. I could see it in his face."

"Well, anything was possible, but yeah, I'm sure Booth would have pulled his gun on us if we had." Aubrey chuckled. "The man is kind of protective of his furniture."

Oooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.


	16. Chapter 16

(Season 11)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

A headache had hit him hard early that afternoon and Booth gave up doing any work. After he arrived home, he lay on the couch with a cool damp cloth over his forehead and tried to sleep away the headache.

Brennan picked up their children from Day Care and arrived home just as Aubrey pulled into the driveway. Grateful for Aubrey's help removing the children from her car, Brennan carried Hank to the house while Aubrey led the way holding Christine's hand. Once they were in the house, Brennan noticed Booth on the couch first and asked her children to play quietly in Christine's room for a while. Aubrey walked through the living room to the guest bedroom/home office to secure his gun and badge and to change into a pair of jeans and a blue cotton shirt he favored.

Dinner was already planned, so Brennan started preparing the meal while she let Booth sleep. He had called her earlier that day and let her know about the headache, so she had known what to expect when she got home. What she didn't count on was Booth having a nightmare and Aubrey interfering.

The dream was very bad. _Booth had found himself back in Iraq, a prisoner of war and being tortured. The pain was real and his head felt like it was going to explode. Panting, he struggled to loosen the restraints on his wrists after his torturers left the room and felt them fall away. Desperate to escape the room he stood up from the chair and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open. He struggled with the door, but no matter how hard he pulled it wouldn't open. Suddenly he felt the door knob turn in his hand and he knew that his captors were coming back._

Aubrey left his room and noticed Booth standing near the fireplace a look of fear on his face. Not sure what was going on, Aubrey approached his friend and meant to touch Booth's arm to check on him. Before he could do that, Brennan called out to him.

"Don't touch him, Aubrey." Brennan hurried from the kitchen and over to where Booth was standing. "He's asleep. Don't touch him."

Since Booth's eyes were open, Aubrey had assumed the man was awake. "How can you tell?" He trusted Brennan so he slowly backed away, uncertain what else he was supposed to do.

"I just know." Brennan had years of experience dealing with Booth's nightmares and was confident she knew how to handle them. "Booth . . . you're alright . . . Booth wake up . . . Booth . . . It's okay, Booth, it's not real . . . Booth."

Her words broke through his dream and he finally woke up. Surprised to find himself facing the fireplace, Booth rubbed his hands across his face and shook the last of the horrible dream from his mind. "I'm awake." His shirt was soaking wet from sweat and clung to his skin making him feel chilled. "It was just . . . I'm awake."

Relieved that he was okay, Brennan moved closer and kissed his cheek. "Go get a shower. Dinner is cooking and should be ready in about thirty minutes. Christine and Hank are playing in Christine's room."

His head still pounding, Booth grimaced. "I think I have a migraine. I'm going to pass on dinner tonight and just go to bed."

"Alright." Brennan watched Booth move slowly down the hallway and into their bedroom. With a faint smile on her lips, Brennan turned to face Aubrey. "Would you like to make us each a salad while I see to the pasta?"

Though he was curious, Aubrey decided not to ask questions and followed Brennan into the kitchen. He knew that Booth had been through a lot of crap in his life and there was no way of knowing what the man had been dreaming about, but he knew it had to be bad. "I got a call from my apartment manager and I should be able to move back in this Friday. I'm sure you'll be glad to get me out of your hair."

As she stirred the Alfredo sauce she was making for the pasta, Brennan tried to assure her guest he was wrong. "Nonsense. I've liked having you here. Certainly the children have enjoyed your company and the wonderful breakfasts you have made for them."

A feeling of warmth coursing through him, Aubrey smiled as he sliced some carrots very thinly for the salad. "Thank you. I've actually loved being here. I haven't lived with anyone for a long time." Tossing the carrots in the salad bowl, he tossed in some torn boston bibb lettuce and started to slice up a cucumber. "I talked to Jessica. We're going to start dating . . . We think it's time."

"Good." Brennan checked her pasta and decided it needed a few more minutes. Her children hated al dente pasta, but she had to make sure it didn't over cook and turn mushy. "It helps that you are already friends . . . Just remember that no relationship is perfect."

"Not even yours." Aubrey had meant it as a wise-crack, a joke, but Brennan took it seriously.

"Yes, that's true." Brennan stirred her sauce and added some spices to give it a little more flavor. "But Booth and I are happy and that is all that matters. We've certainly had an exciting life together so far."

Aubrey tossed the cucumber in the salad bowl and started on the tomato. "If you don't mind, I'd rather have a less exciting life than you two have had."

Amused, Brennan laughed. "Yes, I'm sure that's true." While her pasta sauce simmered, Brennan pulled out a pot and placed it on the stovetop. Moving over to the fridge, she removed some homemade vegetable stock from the freezer and dumped it into the pan. "I'll heat this up just in case Booth is ready to eat something later tonight. If he really does have a migraine then he won't be able to handle anything heavy like pasta alfredo until at least tomorrow."

A quick glance towards the hallway, Aubrey lowered his voice. "Does he have migraines often?"

"No he doesn't." Brennan added a little shredded chicken to the broth that she kept in the freezer for whenever she made a simple soup for Booth. "The Arsenault case was upsetting to him. He had to break the news to Richard Arsenault that the wood chipper victim was his son. Booth said that Richard cried. These cases can be very upsetting for Booth. Even though Andrew was a grown man, he was a young man and Booth takes the deaths of young people very hard. He is good at hiding his emotions, but these cases can leave him with a headache. Not all of them turn into migraines though, in fact most of them don't. I think his nightmare just intensified the headache. This probably isn't a migraine, but he is in pain and I think the hot shower and an early night will help him."

Aubrey thought about it and liked that Brennan knew exactly what to do about Booth's problem. "You two are good together, like a well-oiled machine."

"Thank you." Brennan picked up the pot containing the pasta and poured it into a colander in the sink. "We've had many years to learn about each other. Hopefully you and Jessica will have many years together too."

 _God that would be nice._ Aubrey tossed the tomato in the salad bowl and mixed everything lightly. "Well, the salad is ready and I see the pasta is too. I'll go get the kids for you."

"That would be helpful, thank you." Brennan poured the strained pasta in to the sauce leaving out a serving size portion of pasta which she placed in the pot of broth and shredded chicken. "I'll just let this simmer for a while. Booth loves homemade chicken noodle soup. It will comfort him later tonight once he can eat."

 _Maybe Jess and I will get there some day. Taking care of each other, being there for each other. That is what I want. Someone to care about me and letting me care about them. Having barbeques and cooking dinner together, having kids and sharing secret jokes no one else gets . . . that would be perfect or as perfect as anyone gets in life._

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This is the end of my story. I hope you enjoyed it.


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